Tempers flared late in the Sacramento Kings’ Monday night 133-124 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks between forward Trey Lyles and center Brook Lopez. Wednesday, the NBA issued a release detailing both of their punishments.
Lyles will serve a one-game suspension when the Kings travel to play the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Lopez has been fined $25,000.
According to the league’s statement, things got chaotic when “Lyles fouled and then pushed Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo in the back. Lopez escalated the situation by confronting Lyles. Lyles further escalated the situation by striking Lopez in the face and grabbing and holding Lopez around the neck area.”
The brief summary of events omits Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo dribbling into Lyles path, with 15.4 seconds left in the game and Milwaukee leading by eight points.
Before the altercation, Lopez was already infuriated. Bleeding from his left eye caused game stoppagee with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter. On his way to the bench to have his injury treated, he appeared to curse and yell. The game was definitely physical, but it’s unclear what contact led to the cut. It took everyone, even media personnel, to separate the Lopez and Lyles once they clashed.
After the chaos, Lyles was assessed two technical fouls and ejected. Lopez was assessed one technical foul and ejected.
After the game, Antetokounmpo said he had no idea what happened. He also told reporters in the locker room that he’d already agreed to reimburse Lopez for the inevitable fine, acknowledging that Lopez was defending him.
Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer opted to simply call the late-game scuffle between Trey Lyles and Brook Lopez “unfortunate.”
Lyles has seen an expanded role off the bench in recent games and told reporters Monday night that Antetokounmpo just pushed him over the edge. “It was nothing personal,” he said. “But, a bigger guy walks down on me, I’m not really one for talking. It takes a lot for me to get out of character.”
Kings All-Star De’Aaron Fox was blunt when asked about the incident. “Giannis can just dribble the ball out, that’s all he had to do and nothing would have happened,” he said.
The Kings are fighting to make their first playoff appearance in 16 years. In that effort, the whole team is committed to demanding respect from opposing teams, and even referees. Head coach Mike Brown illustrated this in December, when he was ejected from a win over the Toronto Raptors.
Monday night, Brown didn’t mince words about the altercation. “We aint taking no sh**t from nobody. Trust me on that,” he said. “If you think we’re going to start something, we’re not. But we’re going to stand up for our souls and each other.”
In Chicago, the Kings will look to rebound from the intense loss to the No. 1 team in the league. Currently in third place in the Western Conference standings and 8-2 in their last 10 games, the team has the highest adjusted offensive rating in the NBA.