Serious injuries and altercations rarely come up in Summer League play. But Tuesday night’s Lakers-Clippers game in Las Vegas nearly got out of control, even with LA’s veterans watching from the sidelines. The shift occurred with four minutes left in the second quarter. Lakers second-year forward Adou Thiero drove to the basket, leaped toward the rim, and chaos broke out.

That’s because Clippers big man Norchad Omier rose to contest Thiero, then pulled back mid-air, a last-second change that triggered a frightening collision. When they crashed, the Lakers player was thrown off balance, resulting in a terrifying fall. While Omier was on his feet, Thiero rolled on the floor hard, possibly hitting his back or head, or both. He got up immediately, but there’s no telling what that fall could’ve caused. Even the announcers were stunned.

“Thiero had big dreams there, and that was nearly a scary fall,” one of the announcers noted. “Omier got underneath.”

However, the play instantly triggered a bench-clearing kerfuffle. Lakers guard Chris Mañon hurried to confront Omier. It escalated into a shoving match when Omier pushed back. A crowd of players from both teams jumped into the chaos. Even Arthur Kaluma, a new fan-favorite of LakeShow, got into an argument.

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“Yeah, that’s tough,” an announcer said. “We don’t want to see anything jump off here in the Summer League… I think the Lakers players felt that Omier got up underneath. Thiero there, didn’t like it. I think Omier was trying to just clear the space.”

Interestingly, the Los Angeles Lakers’ stars were witnessing the heat from close by. Austin Reaves, who just wrapped the American Century Championship at Lake Tahoe and signed an extension, was in the house along with his new teammates, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton.

JJ Redick, who fans have been begging to give Kaluma and Thiero a shot after their Summer League displays, was also at the game as a spectator.

Their reactions were not visible, but the players and staff had to break up the scuffle within seconds before it escalated further. Thiero somehow appeared fine despite the dangerous fall, making his case to the referees while the brawl happened behind him.

Upon an official review, Omier was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul alongside a technical foul. Additionally, techs were handed out to Mañon and Kaluma to restore order.

A tiny good came out of this. It’s prompted fans to step up their campaign to get Redick to give Thiero a regular role in the rotation this upcoming season. Fans are once again appealing to the Lakers to give Kaluma a contract, too.

The presence of such high-profile onlookers only amplified the tension in the arena during the physical altercations.

Thiero, fortunately, avoided a serious injury, allowing the Lakers’ coaching staff and the star-studded crowd to breathe a sigh of relief as the game went on till the Lakers beat their crosstown rivals 99-85.