“We disagree with the NBA’s decision to suspend Domantas Sabonis”: Sacramento Kings defend their Lithuanian big man by Tweeting their dissent

Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings has been suspended by the NBA for “unsportsmanlike conduct” in the game against New York Knicks.

This past Monday when the Sacramento Kings took on the New York Knicks, they were hunting for a victory to help themselves close the gap between them and the 10th placed team in the West.

The Knicks were looking to do the same, and they came out better between the two, as Julius Randle scored a career-high 46 point double-double. But it was Kings’ double-double machine who made the news after the game.

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With the Kings trailing 112-98 and 4:35 left in the fourth quarter, Domantas Sabonis received a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct, after which he disagreed with a foul called by one of the referees.

When Immanuel Quickley of the Knicks dribbled past Sabonis even though he couldn’t score, both had slight contact but Quickley went flying because of his momentum. An official ruled that the Sacramento center committed a blocking foul which made the Lithuanian retaliate.

That bump to the referee ended up in him getting a second Technical for the game, which led to his suspension. But now it has gone even further.

NBA suspends Domantas Sabonis for the Nuggets game but Kings disagree

Before the Kings face the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, the league took it upon itself to suspend Domantas for the game.

“Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis has been suspended one game without pay for aggressively confronting and making contact with a game official, it was announced today by Byron Spruell, President, League Operations,” said the NBA. Have a look at the full statement.

But the Kings disagree with their All-Star center’s treatment.

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Safe to say, the ruling wasn’t as harsh and absurd as most of the calls have been in recent times. Maybe the official was wrong in calling that foul, but so was Sabonis’ reaction to the call.

Nobody should even go face to face with the match official while complaining, let alone bumping them for an arguable call. Although this was a heat of the moment reaction, it still is a failure of sportsmanship.