After a sports fan sitting court side at an NBA game threw a ball to a female ref, he was ordered to leave the game. The man, Duncan, whose last name is not clear at this time, was even called out by Lakers point guard Luka Dončic for the behavior, which was caught on camera and shared across social media. Naturally. But did Duncan actually act as aggressively as some users on social media, and Luka, claim? His wife, Kellie DeMarco, came out on Instagram to share what really happened and how the entire interaction was allegedly blown out of proportion.
At the game in question, a ball bounced out of bounds and right into Duncan’s lap. He then threw the ball to the ref almost immediately. One clip that was posted on X appears to be sped up and makes it seem like Duncan did forcefully throw the ball to the ref. In another post on X, the clip is slower and appears to be the more accurate depiction of what happened. But that didn’t stop the Internet from going in on the basketball fan.
An NBA fan was thrown out of a Lakers game for his behavior with a female referee.
A Sacramento Kings fan sitting courtside is ejected after aggressively throwing the ball at a female referee during last night‘s Lakers game. Am I missing the aggressive part? This seems like a pretty standard pass to me… https://t.co/6JlNZfTP2a
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) November 5, 2026
In order to get ejected from an NBA game as a fan, you have to be pretty belligerent or aggressive. Apparently, that’s how officials saw Duncan’s behavior. In the viral clip from the Lakers/Kings game, Duncan grabs the ball after it makes its way to him, out of bounds, and he uses a chest throw to toss it to the ref. But, in one of the clips from the incident, Luka calls out the attendee for the way he threw the ball.
Luka later told the New York Post, “He just tossed, really strong, the ball towards the ref. I was just asking him what the hell is he doing?” Duncan was escorted from his seat and from the game after the brief verbal altercation with the Lakers point guard.
The ejected Lakers fan’s wife spoke out about what happened.
Although the incident between Duncan and Luka was quick, and the female ref in question did not come out to share her side of things as Luka did, Duncan’s wife addressed it on social media. Kellie posted a selfie with Duncan on Instagram, seemingly from the game, and joked that, despite her long career as an on-air TV news anchor, her husband is getting more airtime than she is.
“He played basketball for years, and apparently the chest pass muscle memory never left,” she wrote in the caption, by way of explanation for how he threw the basketball to the ref during the game. “He meant no harm, he feels terrible that it came across the wrong way, and he has nothing but respect for the officials. Thank you for all the kind messages. We love the Kings and this community.”
Fans are taking the man’s side against Lakers point guard Luka Dončic.
A fan was kicked out of the Lakers–Kings game after aggressively throwing the ball at a female referee 😳 Luka Dončić was the one who pointed out the incident to officials. 🎥 @NBCSports / @BrendenNunesNBA https://t.co/zFGYrLvOdn
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) November 5, 2026
The clip from the game went viral and, in most cases, users on the internet might be against the person who appears to be the kind of/sort of aggressor. But when users on Reddit discussed the Lakers/Kings game incident, they were with Duncan. Most agreed that the way he threw the ball made perfect sense and that there is no reason to suspect he has malicious intent.
“A chest pass from a seated position. I wasn’t surprised he put a little oomf on it as someone who isn’t doing that everyday,” one Redditor commented in the thread. “Misjudged it from being seated, clearly meant no harm. Was a weird reaction from people in professional basketball all around.”
Another person commented, “Really hope they get some free tickets to another game, because that honestly was so ridiculous.”
Someone else called out Luka specifically and wrote, “It seemed pretty obvious from the start that his reaction was just an amped up reaction/muscle memory than any sign of disrespect. The ref IMO gets a pass because she doesn’t know really at that moment. Luka’s reaction though was embarrassing.”
Who knew that this was all it took to bring the internet together?
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