The suspensions will cost three players over $800,000 in game night checks.
Saturday night, LeBron James made his regular season home debut for the Lakers against the Houston Rockets, and fans were treated to a game complete with star power and true basketball skill.
But with a little over four minutes to play, all hell broke loose as fists started flying.
gifdsports on Twitter
Chris Paul throws punches at Rondo for allegedly spitting on him ,….brawl breaks out https://t.co/1k1a7jRunY
When the players were separated, Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram were ejected and the Rockets, lead by James Harden’s 36 points, went on to win the game, 124 – 115. Today we learned the fate of these players, with the expected suspensions being handed down to all of the ejected players.
Chris Paul was docked two games without pay, Rondo three games without pay and Ingram four games without pay. When you add up their garnished paychecks, you get an astounding $840,000 in lost wages.
Tim Reynolds on Twitter
The three suspensions will lead to $840,000 in lost salary. Ingram loses $158,817 Rondo loses $186,207 Paul loses $491,781 So CP3 gets the lightest sentence, and hit the hardest. (Apologies for the hasty math earlier. Credit to @albertnahmad for telling me that I’m a moron.)
Tensions ran high after Ingram was whistled for a foul on James Harden, escalated when Ingram shoved Harden and was hit with a T and then boiled over when Paul mushed Rondo, alleging that Rondo spit in his face. There have been various accusations and videos of what really went down, from Rondo seeming to have spit at Paul to some saying Carmelo inadvertently spit on Paul, who then mistakenly thought it was Rondo.
Rachel Nichols on Twitter
This is one of the pieces of video the Rockets are sending the league office as the NBA investigates last night’s fight at Staples Center and determines discipline. https://t.co/YKw7JF13cP
Although the debate continues over who did what, there was no debating that suspensions would be coming down, and today they did.
