Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 25, 1993 TAG: 9303250107
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
NBA MAKING SUNS, KNICKS PAY AFTER BRAWL
The New York Knicks, considered the NBA's most intimidating team, paid heavily Wednesday for their wild fist fight with the Phoenix Suns when the league fined a record 21 players and the teams a total of $160,500.The player receiving the heaviest penalty was Knicks guard Greg Anthony, who came off the bench in street clothes and sucker-punched Phoenix's Kevin Johnson Tuesday night during one of the more chaotic brawls in NBA history.
Anthony, sidelined with a sprained right ankle, punched Johnson in the face during the melee that ended the first half of Phoenix's 121-92 victory.
He was fined $20,500 and suspended without pay for at least five games. Johnson was fined $15,000 and suspended for two games without pay, and the Knicks' Doc Rivers was fined $10,000 and suspended for two games without pay.
"It really sets us back," Knicks coach Pat Riley said from practice at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. "It hurts us from the standpoint of not having Doc for a couple of games. It's a very unfair situation, and all of it instigated by Kevin Johnson.
"We made the mistake of retaliating, but there were two very provoking situations. But we have to deal with it. We do not condone at all what Greg Anthony did. That's not what this league's about, and he feels very bad about it today."
The Knicks got the biggest team fine, $50,000. The Suns were fined $25,000 for failure to properly control their players.
Suns president Jerry Colangelo, at a news conference in Phoenix, said he takes "great issue" with the suspension of Johnson. He also doesn't like what he sees in the Knicks.
"You're seeing a team build a particular image for itself . . . and gloating over that image," he said. "And that potentially could be a problem. I think we suffered a little bit because of that last night."
The total amount of fines was $2,000 short of the league record of $162,500 levied against 14 players and the Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers for an incident April 20, 1990.
Hit with the biggest fines then were Philadelphia's Charles Barkley and Detroit's Bill Laimbeer, $20,000 each, and Detroit's Scott Hastings, $10,000. Each was suspended for one game without pay.
With the total of nine suspended games without pay this time, the league said this represents the heaviest fines in NBA history. The lost time amounts to an additional $65,061 fine for Anthony, $45,124 for Johnson and $21,829 for Rivers.
Barkley, now with the Suns and one of the league's more combative and controversial players, was one of five players not fined. The others were Dan Majerle and Oliver Miller of the Suns and Patrick Ewing and Tony Campbell of the Knicks.
Riley, whose pants were ripped in the fight, and Suns coach Paul Westphal tried to restore order and also got off without fines. Barkley tried to act as a peacemaker.
"I had hold of Doc Rivers, and then I had John Starks, and then I just dove on the pile," he said. "I knew Kevin [Johnson] was down there somewhere."
Colangelo said the brawl was the worst he had seen in 27 years as a Phoenix executive.
Anthony will begin serving his suspension when he is medically cleared to play. At the end of the five-game period, he must meet with league executives before he can return.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL