HONOLULU -- Utah Jazz forward Trevor Booker was ejected from a preseason game on Tuesday after taking a swing at Los Angeles Lakers center Roy Hibbert.
Hibbert approached Booker during a stop in play at the 7:14 mark of the third quarter, and the players got in each other's faces before Booker took an open-handed swing at Hibbert.
But before the two could further engage each other, Hibbert was held back by his teammates. Shortly thereafter, Booker was assessed two technical fouls and ejected from the Jazz's 117-114 overtime win at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Stan Sheriff Center. Hibbert remained in the game.
"That's what normally happens, but I'm happy to have teammates that will have my back," Hibbert said.
And of Booker?
"I ain't worried about him," Hibbert said "I'm not going to speak on that."
Hibbert, who joined the Lakers in an offseason trade with the Indiana Pacers, finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds in 32 minutes.
"I just wanted to be aggressive," Hibbert said. "It's preseason so you don't really take too much about the wins or the losses, but it's just how you play and just play with aggression and play together like you did. I like what I saw, even though we lost. There was a lot of good things in there."