The NBA announced suspensions after an altercation broke out during the Thunder’s 132-111 win against the Wizards on Saturday. The league gave a one-game suspension to Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell and Wizards forward Justin Champagnie for fighting and “escalating an on-court altercation which spilled over into the spectator stands.”
In addition to the suspensions, Thunder forward Jaylin Williams and guard Cason Wallace have been fined $50,000 and $35,000, respectively, for being involved in the altercation as well.
The incident happened in the closing seconds of the second quarter, when Williams shoulder checked Champagnie as he was trying to take position on the baseline to inbound the ball after a made basket by the Wizards. The two shoved each other back and forth before an official stepped in, and started assessing a technical to Williams.
While that was happening, though, Mitchell stepped in, and Champagnie shoved him in the face. The Thunder guard then reacted and lunged at Champagnie. The altercation spilled into the courtside seats on the baseline, as several Thunder and Wizards players ended up in a pile on the ground. The whole situation turned into a bunch of shoving and pushing until the players could be separated.
Here’s a look at what happened:
After reviewing the play, the officials assessed two technical fouls to Champagnie and Williams each, ejecting them from the game. Mitchell and Wallace were also given technicals and ejected from the game for “escalating the altercation.”
After the game, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said he disagreed with the punishments handed out by the officials.
“I disagreed with their judgment after talking to them and watching at halftime,” Daigneault said. “I worked with John Goble for a long time and he worked with me and we ended up agreeing to disagree. We both moved on. That’s all I can say about it.”
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who tried to help separate the players, said he still wasn’t sure exactly what happened.
“I was pretty confused as a lot happened,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Honestly, I still haven’t seen it. So I don’t know who was deserving of what. I guess refs watched it a few times, made a call. I knew, regardless, we were going to have to focus back in and get back to playing basketball and try to win a basketball game.”
Champagnie will serve his suspension Sunday night when the Wizards play the Knicks, while Mitchell will miss Monday night’s game against the 76ers.
