The league issued CJ McCollum a one-game suspension over the weekend when he stepped onto the court during an altercation. Trailblazers rookie Caleb Swanigan and the Suns’ Alex Len started to get in each other’s faces in a preseason meeting before referees and players broke up the scuffle. McCollum walked a few feet away from the bench in the direction of the commotion in what he says was support for his teammate.
The league prohibits any player from leaving their respective benches in the during incidents like the one last week. McCollum had a rather amusing response to the suspension, one which with he does not agree.
"They had a choice, they didn't have to suspend me." – @CJMcCollum pic.twitter.com/6empZOWhIf
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) October 15, 2017
Following from Candace Holdahl,
“Obviously I wasn’t trying to escalate the situation, I was trying to look out for a teammate, but they decided to suspend me,” said McCollum. “I should have known that they were going to suspend me but with it being preseason and me not being involved in the actual event and me just trying to help my teammate — he might clear a million before taxes but not after taxes, so I was thinking about looking out for him. It cost me a lot of money and the first game of the season. I should have known better with my history of violence on the court that I would be suspended.”
McCollum is correct in his notion that suspension is probably silly. Swanigan and Len were separated before it got severe so one would then assume that all’s well that ends well. But rules are rules, I guess. If the league wants to be able to introduce and highlight new “points of education,” then it’s in their best interest to uphold the guidelines they already have in place.
The 2016 Most Improved Player will miss Portland’s Wednesday season opener against non-other than the Suns.
