NBA Summer League can be a fascinating place because of the varying situations players find themselves in coming into Las Vegas. Some are there on a guaranteed contract to get some reps and try to stay healthy, while others are there fighting for their professional lives in the NBA.
Sometimes, that latter group can be a bit overly aggressive, and it can lead to some dust-ups, as we saw on Sunday in Cox Pavilion when Eugene Omoruyi and Chimezie Metu both got ejected in the fourth quarter of the Kings-Mavs game. Omoruyi shoved Metu while he was in the air, which Metu was understandably upset about and so when he popped up and confronted Omoruyi, he also gave him an elbow punch to the neck/jaw before teammates stepped in to separate the two men.
Mavs forward Eugene Omoruyi (flagrant 2) and Kings forward Chimezie Metu (punching foul) were both ejected after this play: pic.twitter.com/WGXSh8FUnP
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) August 15, 2021
It isn’t a great look for anyone, as Omoruyi commits what is one of the worst offenses any basketball player can make in shoving a player in the air when he’s at his most vulnerable. Metu probably shouldn’t toss a punch, either, but it’s also understandable why he was so upset, particularly considering what happened last year when he got slung to the ground by Jonas Valanciunas after landing on his shoulders after a dunk and broke his wrist.