Suspensions have been handed out for last night’s fight during the Lakers/Rockets game.
Brandon Ingram: Four games
Rajon Rondo: Three games
Chris Paul: Two games
SourceThose suspensions are fair. There’s no place for this during the game. If someone disrespects you, let them hear it, get a technical foul if you don’t mind the fine. Want to settle something? Win the game. When guys start throwing punches, you’re letting your teammates and the fans down because there’s only one outcome: the league is going to thrown the suspension hammer. And it’s just a bad look for the players, the team, and the league.
I don’t know what the **** Brandon Ingram was doing. His behavior was completely out of character. He’s normally like the chillest, quietest player in the league. Dude hit a game winner last year and just casually jogged back to the bench. This year, he’s throwing hands in the second game. I get that James Harden gets superstar treatment from the refs and will get the foul call nine times out of 10, but the Lakers have LeBron James so it evens out. Last night was a completely winnable game. Ingram is the Lakers second best player so there’s no time for that. He’s going to miss games against the Spurs, Suns, Nuggets, and Spurs again. They should win against the Suns either way, but James is going to have to be playoff-LeBron for the Lakers to have a chance to win the other three. It’s too early in the season for that. There’s a possibility the Lakers start 0-6 or 1-5. Was it worth it?
James putting his arm around Paul was bad optics but completely acceptable as far as I’m concerned. If he can use his friendship to de-escalate the situation, I’d rather see that happen. NBA fights are never good anyway. Rondo and Paul each connected, but players usually don’t. They’re either saddest fights ever or it’s Ron Artest running into the stands.