NBA star ejected for 'headbutting' referee

Golden State's 28-point win over Miami in the NBA has been overshadowed by a controversial incident involving Shaun Livingston and a referee.

The highlight – or rather lowlight – of the Warriors' win came in a frustrating first half when Livingston was given his marching orders.

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Livingston was furious at the lack of a foul call on his turnaround jumper over Tyler Johnson in the second quarter, and he confronted one of the officials to let him know about it.

Before the ball had even slipped out of bounds, the Warriors guard stalked over to referee Courtney Kirkland to vent his frustrations.

The two got in each other’s faces, before Livingston was sensationally ejected.

Replays showed the two went forehead-to-forehead, and there appeared to be contact.

Kirkland immediately tossed Livingston after the contact. It was the first ejection of Livingston's career.

The question here is who was primarily responsible for the contact.

Livingston is certainly not blameless and he instigated the confrontation but Kirkland also appeared to lean toward Livingston, and might have even initiated the actual contact.

The Warriors man knew he was gone the moment the contact happened though.

He didn't argue, ripped his shirt out of his shorts, and headed down the tunnel.

With Yahoo US