Brooklyn Nets power forward Kevin Garnett drew a one-game suspension from the National Basketball Association after head-butting Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard during their teams’ encounter on January 12, 2015 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The head-butt seemed to have not cause any physical harm or injury to Howard but the ensuing attempt of Garnett to escalate the word ward is what prompted league officials to finally decide on slapping the future Hall-of-Famer with a one-game penalty.
Garnett is expected to miss the Nets’ next game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
For being part of the altercation, Howard was also meted a hefty $15,000 fine by the NBA.
What started it
The incident on the basketball floor happened very early in the game. Garnett was defending an entry pass to Howard at the 7:53 mark of the first quarter when he was called for a personal foul, details Yahoo! Sports.
Howard did not seem to like the foul that he casually slapped the Brooklyn Nets’ power forward while walking away.
With the intense player that he is, Garnett did not let the casual slap get away. He hurled the ball on Howard, and when the Houston Rocket’s center turned around, Garnett gave him the head-butt.
Knowing his importance to his team, which is currently on a roll, Howard hardly showed intense emotion or interest in still making a big fuss about the altercation and decided to turn around when referee David Guthrie restrained him.
But Garnett was already in the war path, refusing to be restrained and still wanting to go with the war of words with Howard even though he was already being restrained by Rockets’ forward Trevor Ariza.
Meting the punishments
When the players were finally separated, game officials made a video review of the altercation and decided to give Howard a technical foul while ejecting Garnett from the game.
The NBA announced the following day that Garnett’s one-game suspension is without pay, to allow the 38-year-old highly intense NBA superstar to think about his actions the night before.
Basketball enthusiasts believe that the suspension on Garnett is a bit harsh for a minor on-court altercation that hardly transformed into a physical scuffle. Analysts however think the decision is judicious since further review of the game showed Garnett really very intent on escalating the minor altercation even when attempts to separate the two players were already being made.
As a professional sports league, the NBA cannot afford to let even the simplest act of aggression by any player go unpunished lest it breeds more on-court shenanigans which have no place in professional basketball.
The Rockets handily won over the Nets during the game, 113-99. The win pushed the Houston’s win-loss record to 27-11 while further dropping the Nets’ standing with a 16-22 win-loss card.