The NBA comes down hard on players who do anything that can lead to another players’ injury — a blow to the head, for example. Shoving a player into photographers along the baseline qualifies.
Golden State’s Marquese Chriss was fined $35,000 by the NBA Monday for shoving Dallas’ Luka Doncic into photographers on Saturday night, the league announced.
Marquese Chriss and Luka nearly threw hands 👀 pic.twitter.com/JGRJq3rUek
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) December 29, 2019
One can’t blame Doncic for getting up ready to fight, that shove could have led to serious injury.
That fine doesn’t seem excessive on the face for a blatant shove, plus the league said “the amount of the fine was based in part on the fact that Chriss has been disciplined on several prior occasions for physical altercations on the court.” However, considering Chriss is on a minimum salary it’s a serious blow to his pocketbook.
The Marquese Chriss $35K fine for pushing Luka Doncic to the floor is equal (from a financial perspective) to him getting suspended for 3 games.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) December 30, 2019
Which is why Chriss’ agents are trying to get the fine reduced.
Yahoo Sources: The representation for Marquese Chriss is in communication with league and NBPA on clarification as to why client received such a hefty fine from the Luka Dončić altercation that didn’t even draw a flagrant foul during the game. Goal is to get fine reduced.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 31, 2019
That fine doesn’t seem unreasonable considering the blatant shove, and the league rarely changes its mind. But Chriss is going to try.
