All four players who were dismissed from the Utah Jazz’s game against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night now owe the NBA some money. Myles Turner of Indiana and Rudy Gobert, Joe Ingles, and Donovan Mitchell of Utah have all been fined for their roles in the brawl, with Gobert receiving the worst penalty of the bunch.
After Gobert pulled Turner to the ground by his shorts, the two fought by holding each other’s arms and wiggling around a little. As a result, Gobert received a $35,000 fine, while Turner owed a $25,000 fine. Ingles was found to have assaulted a referee during the ensuing brawl, while Mitchell inflamed the situation. As a result, Ingles received a $30,000 fine, while Mitchell received the smallest fine of the three, with a $20,000 fine.
Both big men discussed the incident after the game, with Turner saying, “I had to stick up for myself in that situation.” I don’t believe I made any mistakes. But that is not a decision for me to make. We’ll talk to the league and see what happens from there.” Meanwhile, Gobert stated that he would not throw a punch, but that if someone wanted to fight him, he could do so.
“If I don’t feel threatened I’m not gonna throw a punch and get suspended and hurt my team so I didn’t feel no threat at all and I’m not gonna fight on the basketball court,” Gobert said. “But if someone wants to fight I’m easy to reach. I’m very easy to reach. I’m just not going to do it on social media, like if anyone got a problem, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, easy.”
