The NBA has issued a $35,000 fine to Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane for forcefully throwing the game ball at New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby in an unsportsmanlike manner, the league announced Monday, December 8.
The incident took place with 6:13 left in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s contest at Madison Square Garden. Bane received a technical foul on the play, though Orlando kept possession because Anunoby had stepped out of bounds. The Magic went on to drop the game by six points.
The sequence began when Mikal Bridges intercepted an errant pass from Jalen Suggs and initiated a fast break for New York. Knicks guard Anthony Black tried to disrupt Bridges’ feed to Anunoby and ultimately stripped Anunoby, who tumbled out of bounds. Trailing the play, Bane picked up the loose ball inbounds, wound up, and fired it at Anunoby, prompting officials to label the action a hostile act.
Sunday’s episode was not Bane’s first ball-throwing incident this season. On November 4 in Atlanta, he was ejected after receiving both a flagrant-1 foul and a technical for pulling down Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu on a fast break and then spiking the ball at him.
Bane is earning $36.7 million this season under a long-term contract, lessening the financial sting of the latest penalty.
Source: Hoops Rumors
