The NBA league office — including its chief disciplinarian, former Bad Boy Piston Joe Dumars — will not tolerate real fights.
It was not a surprise when the league came down hard on the players involved in the fight between the Suns and Mavericks on Friday night. The punishments:
• Dallas’ Naji Marshall suspended four games without pay.
• Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkic suspended three games without pay.
• Dallas’ PJ Washington suspended one game without pay.
All that was for this incident, which started when Nurkic was charged with an offensive foul for bulldozing Daniel Gafford. That is when Marshall stepped in to stand up for his teammate. Nurkic slapped/pushed Marshall in the face, and Marshall responded with a punch that appeared to graze Nurkic on the side of the face. Soon after, Washington stepped in and shoved Nurkic to the ground. All three players were ejected.
The NBA said in announcing the penalties that Marshall “attempted to further engage Nurkić in a hostile manner in the corridor outside the locker rooms.” That would explain the extra game.
This suspension hits the Mavericks particularly hard because they are also without Luka Doncic for the next month due to a strained calf.
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