Washington Wizards' Montrezl Harrell given technical foul after trash-talking Drake

The Washington Wizards were blowing out the Raptors, and Washington center Montrezl Harrell had some things to say about that to Drake.

Drake with the Toronto Raptors mascot, Image credit: Twitter
By Amruth Kalidas | Oct 21, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

There are diehard NBA fans, and then there’s Drake. The Toronto native and world famous rapper regularly attends Raptors games and has even been known to involve himself in the action when possible. During Toronto’s 2019 championship run, he was caught on camera giving Raptors coach Nick Nurse a shoulder rub in the middle of a playoff game, but on Wednesday, he took things to a new level by actually helping the Raptors on the floor. 

DRAKE MAKING MOVES FROM COURTSIDE

The moment came in the second quarter. The Washington Wizards were blowing out the Raptors, and Washington center Montrezl Harrell had some things to say about that to Drake, who was sitting courtside. What exactly was said between the two, we can’t say, but Harrell was ultimately called for a technical foul as a result. Fred VanVleet sank the free throw, so in a way, you could argue that Drake actually earned the Raptors a point. 

Drake’s efforts were ultimately in vain. The Wizards dominated the Raptors en route to a 98-83 victory, but Harrell will still have to pay up for the incident. Technical fouls come with 2,000 dollars fines, and Harrell isn’t too keen on paying it for such a minor incident. “I need my money back,” Harrell told reporters after the game. “Me and Drake was laughing… me and Drake were just talking, y’all.”

Harrell can certainly afford the fine. He’s making roughly 9.7 million dollars this season, but that’s nothing compared to the 49 million dollars Forbes estimates Drake made in 2020 alone. Maybe he’d be willing to pick up the tab for Harrell if his Raptors had pulled off the comeback, but with the Wizards running away with the victory, he probably won’t mind letting Harrell write his own check.

BEN SIMMONS SUSPENDED FROM PRACTICE 

Ben Simmons’ return to the Philadelphia 76ers hasn’t gone super smoothly. On Tuesday, the Sixers suspended Simmons for one game for conduct detrimental to the team. As a result of the suspension, Simmons will miss Philadelphia’s season opener against the Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday night. 

Sixers coach Doc Rivers threw Simmons out of practice on Tuesday for being disengaged, and the suspension was handed out shortly thereafter. Rivers asked Simmons to join a defensive drill, and Simmons refused, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Rivers then told Simmons that he should go home, and Simmons obliged. 

“I thought he was a distraction today,” Rivers said of Simmons. “I didn’t think he wanted to do what everyone else was doing. At the end of the day, as a coach, I had to protect the team. The team [comes] first, and then we get to the other part. So today, I thought it was more important to focus on the team.” 

When asked if Simmons wants to be with the team, Rivers said: “Today, not, obviously — we told him to go home. But hopefully, at some point, yeah.”

The suspension is the latest in a long line of back-and-forth events that have transpired between Simmons and the Sixers since Philadelphia was upset by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the playoffs in June. Simmons requested a trade from the team over the offseason, and said that he wouldn’t ever play for the Sixers again. However, he ultimately rejoined the team earlier this month after the team fined him for missing preseason games. Since his return though, Simmons has reportedly been “going through the motions,” and Rivers apparently had enough on Tuesday.





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