Kings forward Chimezie Metu ejected for throwing punch in Las Vegas Summer League game
Kings forward Chimezie Metu was ejected for throwing a punch in the fourth quarter of an 86-70 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday in a Las Vegas Summer League game at Cox Pavilion.
Metu got into an altercation with Mavericks forward Eugene Omoruyi with 3:03 remaining after Omoruyi knocked him to the floor as he was driving to the basket. Metu quickly got back to his feet and punched Omoruyi in the face before players from both teams stepped in to separate them.
Metu, who broke his wrist on a dangerous play by Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas last season, received an automatic ejection for throwing a punch. Omoruyi was also ejected when his foul on Metu was upgraded to a flagrant foul type 2 following a video review.
Kings coach Bobby Jackson said the foul by Omoruyi was “probably” a dirty play, but “we don’t want that to ever happen.”
Jackson went on to explain how he addressed the situation with Metu and the rest of the team after the game.
“Just be smart, always protect yourself and just understand what this league kind of consists of and not putting yourself in those type of situations,” Jackson said. “Again, I’m their coach, I’m going to support any and everything my players do, and I think that’s what normal organizations and teams do. They’re going to support their player. Did we like what Metu did? No, but at the end of the day we’ve got to have his back and we’ve got to support him.”
Metu finished with seven points, seven rebounds, three steals, two blocked shots and two steals for the Kings (4-0), who remained unbeaten in summer league play. Omoruyi finished with seven points and five rebounds for the Mavericks (0-4).
Louis King, who led the Kings with 18 points, offered his view of the altercation following the game.
“I felt like it was just a bad foul on the other team and (Metu) took his anger out on it,” King said. “I believe he should have taken a different approach, but sometimes people get in the moment and you can’t really stop their intensity.”
With Metu out of the lineup, the Kings will rely more on Emanuel Terry, who could start at power forward, and rookie center Neemias Queta. Terry, 26, has provided tremendous energy, athleticism and highlight-reel dunks, averaging 6.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks in 16.3 minutes per game.
Queta, 22, is a 7-footer from Portugal who came out of Utah State as the 39th overall pick in last month’s NBA draft. Queta has had some nice moments in Las Vegas, but he has yet to full assert himself, averaging 6.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 blocks.
This story was originally published August 15, 2021 at 3:10 PM.
