Thunder-Wizards brawl spills into stands, results in 4 ejections

Jack Baer Sun, March 22, 2026 at 12:30 AM UTC

0

An Oklahoma City Thunder-Washington Wizards game got heated at the end of the first half on Saturday, and the result was four players getting ejected.

With 27 seconds to go in the second quarter, the Wizards’ Justin Champagnie and the Thunder’s Jaylin Williams exchanged shoves under the basket. The confrontation quickly escalated and spilled over into the baseline stands as multiple players from both teams charged in.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

A photographer got bowled over by the mass of bodies, with some fans appearing to be displaced or jostled as the players exchanged words and hands. Many players stepped in to play peacemaker, including reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who pulled Ajay Mitchell out of the scrum.

One camera caught the action up close, and wasn’t spared from the violence.

Advertisement

After a lengthy review, the officials hit Champagnie and Williams with double technical fouls, triggering an automatic ejection. Mitchell and Thunder teammate Cason Wallace, who was also at the center of the brawl, were hit with a single tech and ejected for “escalating the altercation,” as the official put it.

Why Wizards’ Anthony Gill wasn’t ejected

Wizards forward Anthony Gill surprisingly avoided any discipline, despite getting heated in the middle of the scrum. He could still face subsequent discipline from the NBA, though.

Speaking to a pool reporter after the game, crew chief John Goble said Gill wasn’t at fault:

“It was observed that Wallace pushed Gill into the altercation and after falling to the floor, it was not observed that Gill did anything in an unsportsmanlike manner to assess a penalty.”

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said he didn’t agree with the lopsided consequences after the game:

“I disagreed with their judgement after talking to them and watching it at halftime. I’ve worked with John Goble a long time, and he worked through it with me. We ended up agreeing to disagree and both moved on.

The Wizards received two free throws from the incident. OKC went on to win the game 132-111 despite missing three rotation players for the second half. It was the Thunder’s 11th straight win and Washington’s 15th straight loss.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”