After Marcus Smart, a guard for the Houston Rockets, punched Charles Bassey, the center for the Golden State Warriors, the NBA suspended him for three games without pay on Thursday. The league announced the penalty hours after the altercation during Houston’s 115-108 win on Wednesday night. Smart will miss games against the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and Miami Heat. Bassey kept his hands down and did not fight back when Smart swung at him.
The event occurred with 21 seconds remaining in the third quarter. During a play, Smart and Bassey became entangled before walking back down the court while exchanging words. A right hook thrown by Smart grazed Bassey’s nose after he turned. Officials immediately called a Flagrant 2 foul, which means severe, unnecessary contact, and ejected Smart from the game. He walked off the court before the ejection was officially announced.
Two Sides of the Same Fight
Rockets coach Ime Udoka shared Smart’s side of the story after the game. Smart claimed his previously injured elbow got bent when he and Bassey got wrapped up. Udoka explained the escalation in a way that highlighted the tension between the two players. “So he said something to him, and Bassey said, ‘What you gonna do?’ and he did it,” Udoka said, according to ESPN. This comment suggests Bassey challenged Smart, leading to the punch.
Bassey offered a very different view of the events. Smart claimed Bassey had been playing dirty throughout the entire game. He called the punch “fake toughness” and said he expected Smart to lash out. “I remember the first half, I was trying to set a screen [and] he grabbed my knee. He was playing dirty,” Bassey said. He also noted that Smart tried to get a rebound, grabbed his hand, and then swung when Bassey tried to run back on defense. Bassey believed Smart was not attempting to play basketball but rather to get himself ejected from the game.
Warriors Deal With Double Blow
The suspension ends the immediate drama for Golden State, but the team faces other issues. Star guard Stephen Curry exited the same game in the first quarter due to right abdominal soreness. The team revealed on Thursday that Curry suffers an oblique abdominal tear and will be out for a minimum of two weeks. He will sit out the next seven games against teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics. This injury snaps the Warriors’ eight-game winning streak.
Despite losing their top scorer, the Warriors showed some resilience. Draymond Green spoke about the team’s mindset after Curry’s exit. “The spirit of this team is better,” Green said, according to ESPN. He noted that the group is more certain of who they are and what makes them successful. The team is currently 1-1 without Curry this season, which is a better record than the 13-26 mark they posted when he missed time last year.
Smart’s absence removes a veteran presence from the Rockets’ rotation. In nine games as a reserve, he averages 8.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and two assists. The Rockets are 9-3 and sit in third place in the Western Conference. The suspension forces Houston to play without one of its experienced guards during a crucial stretch of the schedule.
The Price of a Punch
The NBA’s decision draws a clear line under the altercation without changing the game result. Bassey did not retaliate, so no larger fight broke out and no other players were ejected. Smart’s three-game ban means he will watch the next three contests from the sidelines while his team tries to maintain their position in the standings. The league acted quickly to address the physical nature of the encounter.
Smart’s suspension is a penalty for the physical contact that occurred on the floor. The league determined the punch was severe enough to warrant a multi-game absence. Bassey’s composure prevented the situation from worsening, but Curry’s injury remains the bigger story for Golden State. The Warriors must now navigate a tough schedule without their leader while the Rockets adjust to Smart’s absence.
