NBA Suspends A Total Of 11 Different Players For Magic-Pistons Altercation
The Orlando Magic visited the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night in a game between two young teams that are looking to find their footing in the Eastern Conference.
Younger teams always seem to be more competitive in the NBA in terms of tempers possibly flaring and this was the case right before halftime.
With about 33 seconds left in the first half, Pistons guard Killian Hayes looked to pick up a loose ball in transition when he was shoved out of bounds into the Pistons’ bench by Magic forward Moritz Wagner, causing a bench-clearing altercation to ensue.
Hayes did not take kindly to Wagner’s shove and he immediately responded by striking Wagner in the back of the head, causing the Orlando Magic bench to clear and charge towards that of the Pistons’.
Following a lengthy review, Mo Wagner was assessed a Flagrant Foul, Penalty 2 and was ejected from the game. For Detroit, Killian Hayes was given a technical foul and ejected for his actions and Hamidou Diallo was also assessed a technical foul and ejected for his actions in the scuffle between the two teams.
On Thursday evening, the NBA announced further punishments to be handed out as a result of what transpired on Wednesday night.
Pistons’ Killian Hayes has been suspended three games without pay, Magic’s Moritz Wagner has been suspended two games without pay and Pistons’ Hamidou Diallo has been suspended one game without pay for their roles in this on-court altercation.
Additionally, eight different Orlando Magic players have been suspended one game without pay due to leaving the team’s bench area during this altercation. Those that have been suspended include: Cole Anthony, Wendell Carter Jr., Franz Wagner, Gary Harris, Mo Bamba, Kevon Harris, Admiral Schofield and R.J. Hampton.
Only Hayes and Diallo face suspensions for the Detroit Pistons as a result of what happened on Wednesday.
These 11 suspensions that were handed out by the league will accumulate to over $500,000 in forfeited salary and Killian Hayes faces the biggest fine of about $120,000 in total.
Should any player leave their team’s bench area during an on-court altercation, they are by-rule subject to ejection or a suspension by the league upon further review and this is an unfortunate situation for the Magic since this scuffle with the Pistons occurred in front of Detroit’s bench.
If the script was flipped and this instead happened in front of Orlando’s bench, Detroit may have very well been the team hit the hardest with fines and suspensions due to players rushing over from their bench.
The one-game suspensions handed out by the NBA to the eight different Orlando Magic players for leaving their bench area will be served on a staggered basis to ensure, per league rule, that Orlando has eight healthy players available to play in their next two games.
Anthony, Bamba, Carter Jr., Hampton and Gary Harris will serve their suspensions in the Magic’s next game on Friday against the Washington Wizards, as Kevon Harris, Schofield and Franz Wagner will serve their suspensions in Orlando’s following game on January 4 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Killian Hayes will not be available for the Pistons until Jan. 4 when the Pistons are on the road to face the Golden State Warriors and Hamidou Diallo will return on December 31 on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Moritz Wagner will not be available for the Magic until Jan. 5 when Orlando hosts the Timberwolves.
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