Russell Westbrook was shocked to hear that he received a technical foul in the Lakers-Pistons scuffle on Sunday.
In the postgame press conference, a reporter asked the Lakers guard about the call, to which he admitted he wasn’t aware.
“Who got a tech? I got a tech? Oh wow, why did I get a tech?” Westbrook said while reviewing the stat sheet.
The on-court brawl broke out in the third quarter after Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart took an elbow from LeBron James on a free throw. Stewart, who was bleeding from his eye and required five stitches, charged at James and had to be held back by coaches and players.
In footage from the incident, Westbrook can be seen running toward Stewart with his fists raised in the air. He was held back by a Lakers staffer amid the chaos.
Westbrook, in his first season with the Lakers, received the technical after being deemed an “escalator” in the scuffle, when the officials reviewed the play.
“Well that’s just being Russell I guess,” Westbrook said in a third-person reference. “When you’re Russell Westbrook they just try to do anything, apparently. I don’t know what I did, but whatever. They had to put it on somebody. Why not me?”
One reporter asked if Westbrook had spoken with James since the bloody scene.
“No I haven’t, I’m still trying to figure out how the hell I got a tech,” he said.
James was ejected and called for a Flagrant 2 foul — his second ever ejection in his 19-year career. (The first came in November 2017, when he was a member of the Cavaliers.) James was not made available to media after the Lakers’ 121-116 win over the Pistons.
Stewart was ejected from the game after getting two technical fouls for his role in the incident.
The NBA has not yet handed out a punishment to either team or its players.
The Lakers visit the Knicks on Tuesday.