During Wednesday night’s high-scoring game between two rosters, the Suns and Lakers, reeling from injuries to important players, a small kerfuffle broke out after Nick Young went up for slam, but was slammed to the ground after a hard foul from Alex Len. Young shot up to his feet to push Len in the usual bravado a hard foul inspires and the push was reciprocated. But then Young appeared to punch Goran Dragic, and now he’s been suspended for a game. After the game, Young was pissed his teammates didn’t stand up for him in the moment.
Here is the foul, and the West Side Story pushing match that emerged after the foul:
And the punch/push of Dragic that got Young a one-game suspension.
NBA announces Lakers G Nick Young suspended one game for punch thrown at Goran Dragic. Suns' Marcus Morris fined $25K; Alex Len fined $15K
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) January 16, 2014
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After the game, Young told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News he was pissed off his teammates didn’t get embroiled. Len’s did when the Morris twins, Markieff and Marcus respectively, jumped in the mix, pushing Young away from Len and into the path of of poor Dragic.
“What I was mad about is it was one-on-five,” said Young, who has posted nine points on 4-of-8 shooting before his ejection. “If somebody had gotten in the middle, it wouldn’t have escalated that much.”
[…]
“I wasn’t trying to punch,” Young said. “I was trying to shove out of my way. I was getting pushed further and back. It was more trying to get out. I’m very frustrated. But it’s basketball.”
Young’s right, it is basketball, not the UFC. Much as long-time fans of the game malign the lack of toughness in the modern era, we just wanna watch basketball, not a bunch of guys inexpertly slamming their hands at one another in disorganized brio.
Swaggy P is a lover not a fighter, and now he’ll get a game off without pay to think about that.
“You don’t fight in this league,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “It wouldn’t help us to lose two or three more guys. I hate that Nick feels that way, but I’m sure at the moment he’s just talking.”
What do you think of the suspension?
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