In what ended up being a mean day in the NBA on Sunday there was a bevy of altercations happening between some big names.
First, Houston Rockets star James Harden had a big kick to LeBron James lower region in the Rockets versus Cleveland Cavaliers game then the Phoenix Suns visited the Miami Heat and it got chippy, in a short amount of time.
During the Suns vs Heat game there was a hard foul by Suns forward Markieff Morris on his former teammate, Heat guard Goran Dragic, that warranted a flagrant 2 foul. Then a few minutes later, Heat center Hassan Whiteside and Suns center Alex Len got into it, even wrestling down to the ground.
While Whiteside shed some light on what might have went on between him and Len, the NBA had final say on these players fates.
Official release from the NBA.
Phoenix Suns center Alex Len has been fined $20,000 for initiating an altercation with Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside and attempting to take him to the floor. Whiteside has been fined $15,000 for escalating the incident by wrestling Len to the floor. Additionally, Suns forward Markieff Morris has been fined $15,000 for his Flagrant 2 for making excessive contact above the shoulders with Heat guard Goran Dragic. The penalties were announced today by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.
Suns coach Jeff Hornacek didn’t take too kindly to his teams violent play, even saying they’re comparable to a high school team. The team didn’t capitalize either, being defeated by Heat by 17 points.
These players did get off lucky though considering the fact that Rockets star James Harden was suspended 1 game by the NBA for kicking LeBron James. You would think Hassan Whiteside doing his best impression of a WWE match would warrant a suspension but it seems like he got away with just a fine.
