In non-Draymond Green NBA playoff groin-punching news, the NBA on Sunday suspended little-used Cleveland Cavaliers reserve Dahntay Jones for one game for a below-the-belt hit to Raptors center Bismack Biyombo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ4qbjoZrpE
Jones will serve his suspension tonight during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and will miss one game check. For him, that isn’t very much money, since he was signed on the last day of the season. And we’re talking “not very much money” by regular-person standards, not just pro-athlete standards. LeBron James has already agreed to pick up the bill, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com:
LeBron James said he intends to cover the fine imposed on Cleveland Cavaliers reserve Dahntay Jones for the one-game suspension he received for punching Bismack Biyombo in the groin at the end of Game 3.
The cost? About $80.
Jones struck Biyombo in a sensitive area with 17.6 seconds remaining in Cleveland’s 99-84 loss Saturday night. He was suspended by the NBA “without pay” for tonight’s Game 4, and the fine is equal to 1/110th of Jones’ 2015-16 salary.
Jones, who was signed prior to the Cavs’ regular-season finale (so he was on the team for one game), was paid about $8,800.
If the NBA really wanted to punish Jones, they should have hit him with a monetary fine rather than a suspension given his negligible salary. As it is, his absence will have zero effect on the Cavs’ rotation, and $80 is pocket change for LeBron. So Cleveland comes out ahead here.
(Via Cleveland.com)
