In Game 2 against the Timberwolves, Jamal Murray’s frustration was palpable as his team was down by 17 points with less than five minutes to play. As Karl Anthony-Towns made a low-post move on Michael Porter Jr., the Denver Nuggets guard thought the referee should have called a traveling violation. Thus, the annoyed PG threw a heat pack at the baseline ref which fell near Towns, who was going for a lay-up after multiple offensive rebounds.
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The heat pack could have easily injured KAT or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who wisely threw the heat pack away immediately. As a result of this dangerous action, Jamal Murray has faced a fine of $100,000 from the NBA.
However, Keyshawn Johnson considers this fine a slap on the wrist. On ‘UNDISPUTED’, the former 3x NFL Pro Bowler stated that Murray should have been suspended for endangering both the referee and the athletes on the floor,
“I like Jamal Murray. I like to watch him play but I think they should’ve suspended him. I honestly do. The reason that is not because I want Denver to lose the series or nothing like that. I am looking at the safety of the players and the referees.”
"I like Jamal and like watching him play, but he should've been suspended."@keyshawn on the NBA fining Jamal Murray $100K for throwing objects at officials pic.twitter.com/yitCvU48t9
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) May 8, 2024
The co-host Skip Bayless assented to Johnson, who made a “strong case” for suspending clutch players during the postseason and flipped from his original philosophy of “not suspending players during a playoff run”. Bayless highlighted that if Draymond Green had committed such an action, he would have faced heavier repercussions.
The 72-year-old referred to the 2016 Finals Game 4 when Green was slapped with a flagrant foul on LeBron James. As per Bayless, the Warriors forward was suspended for Game 5 because of “his track record” that involved kicking Steven Adams in the pelvic area during the 2016 WCF Game 3. However, Murray doesn’t have this “track record” so he got away with a suspension.
“He doesn’t have any track-record of this. Sure, he gets emotional and he can get angry but he channels into making last-second shots. There is no body of evidence and body of work against him, it is hard for me to say, ‘yeah kick him out of the next game”, Bayless argued.
That was a dangerous act from a player who knows better. https://t.co/903ULpENCh
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 8, 2024
Bayless added that Murray should’ve been suspended for a game because his action could have caused a major injury. While reacting to his dangerous action, Green lamented that “calling for suspensions” has become a norm.
Draymond Green is perturbed by frequent suspension calls
Draymond Green believes Jamal Murray shouldn’t have been suspended for his actions. Although the forward frequently laments the “unfair” treatment towards him, he wishes that NBA fans and experts stop endorsing the idea of suspending players. On his ‘The Draymond Green Show’, the 2017 DPOY acknowledged that throwing a heat pack was dangerous but it didn’t call for a suspension,
“My first thought wasn’t, ‘Ah, he gets suspended.’ It’s crazy how people just start automatically start calling for suspensions these days. I just don’t really understand that.”
Meanwhile, Stephen A. Smith argued for the suspension despite being “fond of Murray”. He believed the extent of danger in Murray’s case was so profound that “even Draymond Green himself concedes could have been very, very dangerous”.
His views aligned with former colleagues Keyshawn Johnson and Skip Bayless. Looking at the importance of the next game and Murray’s value to the squad, the league might have wanted to spare him with a fine. Who knows?
