On April 23, Beijing time, the New Orleans pelicans played the Phoenix Suns at home. When the two teams were in the middle of the second quarter, Pelican player Hayes fouled in a rebound fight. The referee directly expelled him from the game through video review.

In the pelicans’ attack, Hayes made an upward collision when competing for rebounds with Claude. But the referee didn’t see Hayes’s action at that time. Then the Suns protested, and the referee stopped the game.

After Hayes knocked Claude down, the latter was furious and prepared to come forward to argue with Hayes. The referee and the players of both sides pulled them apart to avoid the escalation of the conflict.

The referee looked back through the video and decided that Hayes had committed a malicious foul at level 2 and directly expelled him from the game. This decision caused great dissatisfaction. Claude got a technical foul because he was out of control.