Charlotte Hornets guard and former UConn player James Bouknight (second from left) is ejected from Saturday's game against the Xavier Musketeers by referee Mike Roberts at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Hornets' James Bouknight ejected from UConn game, stays in crowd

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated 2/19/22

One NBA player pulled off an impressive move Saturday — getting ejected from a game in which he wasn’t even playing … and then refusing to leave.

Charlotte Hornets guard James Bouknight sat courtside for UConn’s game against Xavier. Bouknight is a UConn alum and played for the Huskies just last season before getting drafted to the NBA.

During the second half, Bouknight was ejected from his seat by referee Mike Roberts. The broadcast said that Bouknight was standing on the court while talking on his cell phone, presumably disrupting the game.

James Bouknight just got ejected at UCONN’s game

pic.twitter.com/7Y7TliUDNL

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) February 19, 2022

Instead of leaving the arena, however, Bouknight went straight to the UConn student section after getting booted from his seat. The act of defiance was met with loud cheers from the home crowd.

James Bouknight got ejected from the game (as a fan) and moved into the Student section. Legend pic.twitter.com/Mg64NhCgWM

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) February 19, 2022

UConn went on to defeat Xavier 72-61. As for Bouknight, he played for the Huskies for two seasons, including last year when he was their leading scorer. Bouknight is obviously still plenty beloved by the UConn faithful.

This season for the Hornets, Bouknight, Charlotte's first-round draft pick, is averaging just 5.0 points in 10.6 minutes per game. He has butted heads with authority figures in Charlotte as well.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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