From NBA fans to NBA stars, there has been a major disappointment in Russell Westbrook recently. This comes after Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs between the Dallas Mavericks and LA Clippers. Notably, there was an altercation between Westbrook and PJ Washington that led to the 9x All-Star’s first-ever postseason ejection. However, the NBA community has mostly held the 35-year-old Clippers star at fault, including Philadelphia 76ers legend Charles Barkley.

“I got to call out Russell Westbrook because, you know, I’m a big Russell Westbrook fan. I always defend him. He can’t act like that… You can’t do stuff like that,” Barkley stated. He believes that even if a player is having a bad game, he ought to have control of his emotions. “He (Westbrook) was having an awful game. I think you just can’t do stuff like that… You 100% wrong and you can’t do that,” he said, appearing on Inside the NBA on Saturday.

Charles Barkley further mentioned that he has always liked Westbrook, as he is too good of a player. He even believes the Clippers star is a future Hall of Famer but still emphasized that he cannot act the way he did. Notably, the altercation that resulted in both Westbrook and Washington being ejected came in the fourth quarter of Game 3.

The altercation began with Westbrook encircling his arm around Luka Doncic as the Mavericks star drove toward the basket. Subsequently, Westbrook protested the foul called against him, exchanging some words with Doncic. The matter escalated further when a shove from the Clippers star landed on Doncic, prompting Washington to step in to support his teammate.

And the tensions flared even more when Westbrook pushed Washington in the midst of the confrontation. With both players already having technical fouls, an automatic ejection from the game for both came by the referees.

What have the two sides said about the incident?

Russell Westbrook’s display of aggression ultimately proved futile as it failed to change the game’s outcome in favor of the Clippers. The Mavericks claimed a 101-90 victory in Game 3, bringing them to a 2-1 lead in the series. Even Clippers’ head coach Tyronn Lue believes there have to be better ways to channel the aggression reflected in the Game 3.

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“It’s getting chippy. I like the physicality, I like the tough possessions. I like all of that. But we’ve got to make sure we’re not getting the technical fouls, we’re not getting thrown out of the game, because everybody’s important,” he said in a post-game interview, as stated by Fox News in a recent article.

Meanwhile, PJ Washington stood firm on his stand in the game as he believes protecting a teammate is a priority. “Always got to protect 77 (Doncic) at all costs… So I mean, obviously it was a hard foul and then he pushed him afterward, so I was right there and I just had to step into it,” said Washington about the on-court altercation. Now all eyes will be set on Clippers’ strategy for the next game, where they would attempt to being the series to a tie.