Lakers-Rockets Undercard Gets a Few Days at the Beach
The NHL is the only sport that has a clue about what to do when dudes wanna throw down.
The linesmen don't step in until a body finds ice or both fighters are punched out. Penalties then get doled out, serious ones carry fines and suspensions, and the game goes on.
It's a great way to sort out who's really serious and prove bitch-slaps bring both shame and consequences.
In other words, if there was such a code in the NBA, most of its altercations would go the way of the dodo bird.
But there isn't, so measures must come from head office.
After this flashpoint in the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets game, Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul actually put down their purses and formed fists:
The league has now spoken. Suspensions are warranted:
- Brandon Ingram got docked four games for being the instigator, throwing shade at a ref, and landing a punch on the surrounding air because that was one he could win;
- Rondo will cool his jets for three games for getting in the first jab; and
- Paul will sit for two games because he did a Moe Howard-style eye-poke on Rondo.
It's always preferable to learn from the masters.
Come to think of it, as pitiful as that entire episode was, maybe these dudes could re-start the Three Stooges franchise.
Being experienced in how an NBA player fights, they've got the basics sorted already.
Post-career planning can never start too early.
May as well play to their strengths.