NBA: Coach refuses to leave after ejection vs. Knicks
NBA: Coach refuses to leave after ejection vs. Knicks
STEPHEN CHERNIN / Associated Press
Pini Gershon (center), head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, refuses to leave after being ejected in a game vs. the New York Knicks.
NEW YORK - The New York Knicks' exhibition game with Maccabi Tel Aviv yesterday was delayed for about eight minutes in the third quarter when the visiting coach refused to leave the floor after being ejected.
In a bizarre scene, a rabbi even came onto the court to ask the referees to let Pini Gershon remain. Gershon eventually left after a discussion with the officials, his assistant coaches and NBA security personnel. The Knicks won, 106-91.
Gershon was hit with two quick technical fouls in the third quarter, the second coming on a play that went against the Knicks. New York's Al Harrington was called for an offensive foul right in front of the Maccabi bench, and Gershon quickly started screaming at replacement referee Ben Taylor, who ejected him.
When Gershon didn't seem to be listening to any of the basketball officials, Rabbi Yitchak Dovid Grossman, founder and dean of Migdal Ohr, tried to get involved by talking to the referees. But rules say anyone who is ejected must leave the court, and eventually Gershon did.
Migdal Ohr, the world's largest orphanage, received the proceeds from the exhibition game between the Knicks and the Euroleague team from Israel.
