By: Parnell Saint Preux
Last Saturday night was supposed to be an incredible night for Lakers fans and the entire NBA community as the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Houston Rockets. It was the first home debut for LeBron James as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Many anticipated this was going to be a great game in the first week of the regular season.
Late in the 4th quarter with 4:13 remaining, Rockets guard and reigning MVP, James Harden was fouled by Lakers forward Brandon Ingram. After the foul, Ingram shoved Harden in the back. Afterward, Ingram got in the face of the official because Ingram disagreed with the official’s decision on the foul of Harden.
While players like James, Carmelo Anthony, and Lance Stephenson did their best to de-escalate the situation, ultimately, led to punches thrown between Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo.
A clip from ESPN showing the fight.
Paul and his teammates accused Rondo of spitting at Paul’s face. From several videos, it appeared that Paul felt a hit of spit from Rondo. Then, Paul fiercely pointed his finger at Rondo’s face and pushed him. Sooner or later, Paul and Rondo were throwing punches and were separated by teammates. Out of nowhere, Ingram tries to land a punch at Paul, however, failed. Eventually, Paul, Ingram, and Rondo were ejected from the game. Rockets finished the game with the victory, 124-115.
Things went bad to worst for Rondo and Paul. According to Sam Amick of “The Athletic”, a furious Paul informed teammates and staff members that Rondo’s girlfriend instigated a verbal conflict with Paul’s wife, according to sources.
Jonathan Feigen from the Houston Chronicle and Lauren A. Jones from the Los Angeles Sentinel reported and also included details of the argument between Rondo and Paul’s family.
Finally, the NBA decided to suspend the three players. Due to their actions, Paul was suspended for 2 games, Rondo 3 games, and Ingram with 4.
NBA released a following statement of the suspensions.
“Ingram has been suspended for aggressively returning to and escalating the altercation and throwing a punch in the direction of Paul, confronting a game official in a hostile manner, and instigating the overall incident by shoving Rockets guard James Harden. Rondo has been suspended for instigating a physical altercation with, and spitting and throwing multiple punches at, Paul. Paul has been suspended for poking at and making contact with the face of Rondo, and throwing multiple punches at him.”
Additionally, according to ESPN”s Bobby Marks, Ingram will be fined $158,817, followed by Rondo being fined for $186,207 and Paul with a $491,781 fine.
Some if not most have an issue with the NBA handing Rondo a 3 game suspension, as well as Ingram with a 4 game suspension. Given what transpired, some would argue that the suspension should be 10 games, if not more.
Certainly, this is not the way to start the NBA season. At the end of the day, optics matter. Regardless of the fact basketball is a competitive sport, and there may be animosity between opponents, such as Rondo and Paul, nonetheless, there is no excuse for irrational behavior. Rather than focusing on the great narrative of James first home game as a Laker, sadly, we’ve come to this conclusion.
Mels Perspective 