Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum will be suspended for the team’s season opener on Wednesday, October 18th against the Phoenix Suns. Oddly enough, the reason McCollum will miss the 2017-18 debut is due in part to an incident during a recent preseason game against the Phoenix Suns.
The Blazers guard was suspended because he left the bench during an altercation between rookie big man Caleb Swanigan and Suns veteran center Alex Len during Wednesday’s preseason game against the Suns.
The NBA announced the suspension on Saturday afternoon accompanied by a video of the incident. McCollum will be eligible to return for Portland’s second game of the year on Oct. 20 at Indiana.
Here's the video of C.J. McCollum leaving the bench during the preseason game altercation. pic.twitter.com/CJ76a5uMti
— Rob Lopez (@r0bato) October 14, 2017
Rule 7.c of the NBA rule book reads as followed.
“During an altercation, all players not participating in the game must remain in the immediate vicinity of their bench. Violators will be suspended, without pay, for a minimum of one game and fined up to $50,000.”
As expected, his teammate Evan Turner didn’t agree with the decision.
FOR WALKING ON THE COURT?!!!l https://t.co/tDQGF8Pt8i
— Evan Turner (@thekidet) October 14, 2017
