Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey wasn’t happy with an altercation that took place during the team’s game against Phoenix this week, explaining that he expects the NBA to protect his players during and after those instances.
“I’ve got an upset starting point guard, I’ve got an upset coach & reasonably so,” Lindsey said, according to Austin Horton of 1280thezone.com. “Literally, when I say I didn’t sleep a minute [last night] I didn’t. We expect our players to be protected. We think the officials made the appropriate determination, [but] we’ve seen this too many times.”
“I don’t think there’s any connection individually. Again, what happened vs. Minnesota was inappropriate…what happened TWICE [last night] is not in the name of good sportsmanship. He’s upset. He’s got a contusion on his knee now and we’re in a playoff chase.”
The altercation started with Jared Dudley delivering a hard foul to Rubio in an effort to slow down a fastbreak, with Rubio getting up quickly and confronting Dudley shortly after. The Suns’ Marquese Chriss shoved Rubio from the side, causing him to fall over. Mayhem commenced.
The NBA announced on Saturday that Marquese Chriss and Jared Dudley would receive $25,000 fines, but that the pair would not face suspension. Many Jazz fans became incensed at the league’s decision.
News of Ricky Rubio sustaining an injury wasn’t immediately made clear at the time, but it’s possible the Jazz are without him for some of the team’s Playoff chase over the next month. The Jazz currently sit 7th in the Western Conference with a 39-30 record, just one game over the Denver Nuggets and 1.5 games over the Los Angeles Clippers.
“You expect players to be protected by the league, and we’ll stand on that,” Lindsey reportedly said. “Hopefully it won’t cause him (Rubio) to miss any time, but frankly as of today we don’t know. We’re disappointed in the actions and we’re going to express that.”
