Trash-talk Toronto Raptors: Mario Hezonja beats the double technical

Welcome back to another edition of Trash-talk Toronto Raptors! Here we will talk about everything with the Toronto Raptors except… basketball.

Welcome back, folks! We have another fantastic Trash-talk column ahead of us. Despite the recent skid by the Toronto Raptors, all remains well (DEEP BREATH!). We knew that we weren’t going to end the season on a wildly long win streak and the recent injuries and status of the players have definitely affected the play.

Sometimes, we’ve just got to take the losses on the chin to get back up and fight for another day. And, the Toronto Raptors have shown us numerous times that they are never going down without a fight.

However, if you’re looking for some solid basketball talk, then this is not the place for you. My colleagues have done their due diligence by covering grades from the games. As well, there is a new piece that considers just how the Toronto Raptors should build for the future and whether or not cap space is the way to go. As always, there will be plenty of talk after games for your enjoyment.

But this is a place to talk about the chicanery, hullaballoo, and downright disasters that sometimes happen in basketball games. And, boy, do we have a few doozies today.

Before we head into them, though, I have to remind you that if you find something that you want to share with us and get a future shout out, then please message us on Twitter at @RaptorsRapture or @HughesWithMe.

This week on Trash-Talk, we’re going to cover a few things outside of the Toronto Raptors. First, we’re going to cover Mario Hezonja escaping a double technical and remaining in the game, James Harden ecstatic jump ball win, and, lastly, we’re going to cover the Spike Lee versus James Dolan debacle that is still seemingly playing out.

Without further ado, onto this week’s edition of Trash-talk!

Mario Hezonja isn’t here for your technicals

During the Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic game, CJ McCollum was on a tear. Yet, while he was doing so, he believed there was a miscall about his play, so he euro-stepped over to the ref to explain.

Upon meeting with the referee, Hezonja quickly stepped in between the two just before the ref could blow his whistle. Unbeknownst to the ref, Hezonja took the matter into his own hands by physically intervening so the ref couldn’t actually blow the whistle and hand out a technical. The whole escapade is below.

https://twitter.com/YahooSportsNBA/status/1234662836040716289

Now, it’s 100 percent in the rule book that players are not allowed to purposely touch a ref, especially in a heated moment. And, Hezonja is definitely 100 percent in the wrong here as he definitely can’t stop him from blowing the whistle.

However, it must be said that the ref is pretty wildly upset and even shoves Hezonja away from him so he can blow the whistle. I’m certainly not an NBA ref — nor would I ever dream of it — but he has to have more composure than that. Still, it’s 100 percent Hezonja’s fault. Here’s a slow-mo of the moment.

https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1234710230119960576

Now, odds are that Hezonja knows the rulebook, and considering that he’s 1000 times worse than McCollum at basketball, he probably purposely intervened to get the technical called on him instead. Okay, fine, whatever that makes sense. The ref called a technical foul.

Yet, later on in the game, Hezonja got another technical foul but remained in the game despite having two techs. Upon some digging, it was reported that the first technical ended up being on McCollum still, which is why Hezonja remained in the game. But if I’m being honest, that sounds like a fishy excuse as they just forgot that he had two techs already.

With all that said, Hezonja is now a hero that doesn’t need to abide by the rules. In a way, he’s the perfect garbage time player, who will willingly throw himself in front of a runaway bus just to get another life and skirt by the rules. The Toronto Raptors don’t need Hezonja, but I wouldn’t mind him taking a couple of technicals from Kyle Lowry if I could choose.

There he goes, people, the hero we all need, but who we aren’t willing to pay to endure. Live free, Hezonja, live free.

James Harden wins the opening tip

The Houston Rockets have been on a tear since trading away Clint Capela and going full micro-ball. It’s been some of the weirdest basketball to date, but thoroughly enjoyable. Additionally, the Rockets wear a giant, angry facade despite the inner bliss happening.

But, James Harden ruined the facade when he was giddy with joy after winning a tip-off. Take a look below.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1234633256320020481

Harden beat his chest, flexed both arms at his sides, and pranced up the court like a schoolboy. I can’t say that I am a personal fan of Harden nor how the Rockets are playing basketball, but I can say that I am very interested to see how the experiment goes. While winning the opening tip does very little in terms of winning the whole game — and the Rockets did lose to the Knicks, too — at the very least it inspires some fire in a team.

The Houston Rockets experiment will be one to look back on for years to come. Lots of people didn’t believe that the Golden State Warriors could win it all with jump shooters and they did just that and more. Whether or not the Houston Rockets can make a real push will ultimately define how we think we can play the game.

And, to be fair, the Toronto Raptors have a little of that swagger within them as well, which is why we’re seeing them put together a fantastic showing despite losing some major pieces in the offseason. Now, if the Raptors don’t make the Finals, then a Rockets versus Bucks finale would be one to certainly showcase.

Spike Lee is done going to Madison Square Garden for the season

A video circulated recently that showed Spike Lee getting into it with someone at Madison Square Garden. Initially, the rumors were that James Dolan was the culprit (surprise, surprise), but those have not been proven thoroughly yet.

However, Spike Lee did join First Take to air out his grievances and declared that he wouldn’t be coming back to MSG this season.

Spike Lee is a New York Knicks stalwart and just when we thought things were turning for the New York Knicks with a new president, they go ahead and make a bunch of noise that can only make people more and angrier. Personally, though, I’m pretty delighted that the Knicks are still finding ways to mess things up.

Spike Lee now has undying support from fellow basketball folks, which included Kendrick Perkins and Stephen A. Smith. Even Reggie Miller chimed in, but only in hopes that Spike would turn his fandom elsewhere.

The Knicks released a statement, which likely just did them further damage, but I’ll show it to you here so you can decide.

The Knicks refer to Spike and James Dolan making up with a handshake, which Spike said was misconstrued as well. But, on that note, for those watching HBO’s The Outsider and who have a familiarity with “Cuco,” will surely get a kick out of Dan Devine’s response.

Ah, to be the New York Knicks the most hilariously inept franchise. It will always make me feel good knowing that even the brightest of lights couldn’t pull our dear President, Masai Ujiri, away. He knows that the bright lights are just the absolute fire that is burning in MSG.

Oh, sweet, sweet basketball Gods, thank you for letting the worst owner in sports control the New York Knicks and please may you bless them with further ignorance and disasters until Dolan finally decides to let this pipedream go.

That’s all for this week’s edition of Trash-talk! Tune in next time as we’ll explore more stupidity that’ll likely come straight from the Knicks themselves!