Utah Jazz player Derrick Favors Ejected for Throwing Ball into Stands: Why It's a Good Call

Ever since Metta World Peace nee Ron Artest's famous malice at the palace incident in Detroit, wherein Artest climbed into the spectator viewing area known as "the stands" and began punching away, the NBA and Commissioner David Stern have attempted to repair the game's image by separating unsporting activity which occurs on the court and taunts, jeers, boo's and cheers which originate from the stands.

On Thursday night, Utah Jazz center-forward Derrick Favors was ejected by official Matt Boland on the spot for throwing a ball into the stands after Boland correctly called an offensive foul against him.

While many fans are criticizing referee Boland for immediately ejecting Favors after issuing him only one technical foul for throwing the ball into the stands, the player's actions necessitated his ejection.

Boland was correct to eject Favors for this behavior and here's why.
When the league revised their rules in the wake of the Artest incident, the rules committee was very concerned with player behavior as it relates to spectators.

Specifically, the following provision was added to the NBA Rules Book as Rule 10-IV-d: "Any player who throws or kicks the ball directly into the stands with force, regardless of the reason or where it lands, will be assessed a technical foul and ejected."

"With force" refers to an intentional act of releasing, batting or kicking the ball so that it will land away from the player who has released or kicked it.

The rule is very clear: a player who throws a ball into the stands for any reason is automatically ejected.

Given the language of the NBA Rules Book, it is perspicuously obvious the official made the correct call in ejecting Favors for his unsportsmanlike action.