Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks fined $35K for unsportsmanlike act of shoving camera person
The NBA fined Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks $35,000 for pushing a camera person on the sideline while diving for a loose ball, the league announced Friday.
The incident occurred late in the second quarter of Wednesday's 138-119 loss to the Miami Heat. The defeat marked the end of a three-game winning streak for the team, which currently sits at No. 2 in the Western Conference standings.
As you can see in the video below, Brooks appeared to dive for a loose ball and toss it back into play. As he used the corner of the scorer's table to push himself back up, he clearly shoved a camera operator. The shove caused the camera person to fall back with the equipment as Brooks walked away.
Brooks was not issued a technical foul on the play.
Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks has been fined $35,000 for pushing a cameraman on the sideline from Wednesday night's Grizzlies-Heat game.pic.twitter.com/xy7f9F49bj
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 17, 2023
The camera operator was seriously injured and remained under evaluation on Friday afternoon.
I rarely comment on these things, BUT this one is personal. Our veteran @BallyHEAT camera operator was injured & remains under evaluation.
The fine was on point, but the max would have felt like a sliver of justice after disregard for another human - an incredible one at that. https://t.co/cF6YzyCTda— Jason Jackson (@TheJaxShow) March 17, 2023
NBA players and coaches are levied an automatic one-game suspension without pay after 16 technical fouls in a single season. Brooks exceeded his limit earlier this month, during a the fourth quarter of a loss to the Denver Nuggets. Exceeding the league's technical foul limit came with an automatic suspension, requiring him to miss the team's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, he faces another suspension without pay with every two technical fouls this season.
For the Grizzlies, the threat of another Brooks suspension is just one portion of a multitude of difficulties.
While All-Star guard Ja Morant was already implicated in multiple off-court allegations detailed in a Washington Post report, he went out to a Denver night club and posed on Instagram Live with a gun.
Hours prior, forward Brandon Clarke had to be helped off the court after he sustained what appeared to be a non-contact left leg injury after shooting a free throw. His agent later told ESPN that Clarke's injury was a season-ending Achilles tear.
Morant has been away from the team since, but is eligible to return Monday after the league issued an eight-game suspension which included the games he'd already missed. In an interview Wednesday, Morant said the gun wasn't his and took "full responsibility" for his actions, discussing the therapy and more.
