Lakers teammates Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul of the Rockets were suspended without pay Sunday for an on-court fight.
Ingram was suspended four games, Rondo will sit out three games and Paul two games. The NBA handed down the punishments a day after the incident in the fourth quarter at Staples Center.
The incident is costliest to Paul, who will be fined a total of $491,782. Paul is president of the NBA Players’ Association. He began serving the suspension Sunday night when the Clippers played the Rockets.
Rondo will be fined a total of $186,207, while Ingram’s total is $158,816.
Ingram and Rondo will start their suspensions Monday night when the Lakers host the San Antonio Spurs.
Chris Paul, Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo have been ejected after throwing blows in L.A. pic.twitter.com/s28TT81eys
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 21, 2018
The Rockets were up 109-108 with 4:13 remaining when Ingram fouled Houston’s James Harden. Ingram then shoved Harden and confronted referee Jason Phillips after getting a technical foul.
Chris Paul told our broadcast crew this all started because Rajon Rondo spit in his face. When the second replay cycles through you can see Chris wiping his face before he goes at Rondo. pic.twitter.com/2DxPjWdYCu
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) October 21, 2018
As that played out, Paul and Rondo got into each other’s faces. The Rockets said Rondo spit at Paul, one of the things that the NBA was studying Sunday. Video replays showed that Paul appeared to push Rondo in the face, Rondo responded with two attempted punches and Paul then tried to swing back before players from both sides could separate them.
Ingram, Paul and Rondo were all ejected. Houston won 124-115, spoiling the Lakers’ home debut for LeBron James.
With the NBA’s Kiki VanDeWeghe on the scene at Staples, investigation into Rockets-Lakers fight is underway tonight and there is potential for suspensions as soon as Sunday, league source tells ESPN. Rockets play Clippers on a back-to-back.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 21, 2018
Paul and Rondo have been adversaries before, going back to 2009 when Paul played for New Orleans and Rondo was with Boston. They got tangled up in the second quarter of a game then, and tensions were high when the game was over — with players like Paul Pierce needing to get between the two before everyone left the court.
