Toronto Raptors’ Serge Ibaka and Cleveland Cavaliers’ Marquese Chriss got suspended by NBA for the altercation that took place on Monday night in the game between their teams. Ibaka received a three games suspension while Chriss will have to sit out one game.
Both players will not only be forced to miss games but they won’t get paid as well. Ibaka stands to lose $448,276 during the suspension while Chriss will be short for $22,111.
The incident between Serge Ibaka and Marquese Chriss took towards the end of the third quarter in Cleveland’s 126-101 win over Toronto. The two players were trying to establish the position under the basket and Ibaka ended up on the floor at one moment. He got up and shoved Chriss before grabbing his neck and throwing a punch.
Chriss responded with the punch of his own before the players and officials stepped in to separate them. They ended up being thrown out of the game after the incident.
The reason why Serge Ibaka received a longer suspension isn’t just because he was the instigator but also because he is a repeated offender. Ibaka got into fights with Robin Lopez in 2017 and with James Johnson in 2018, which the NBA took into consideration.
