Nick Young, D’Angelo Russell and Greg Monroe fined for Lakers-Bucks altercation Friday
Lakers guards Nick Young and D’Angelo Russell and Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe were fined for their roles in an altercation during Friday’s game.
Monroe, who grabbed Young by the neck and slapped Lakers forward Brandon Ingram in the face, was assessed the heaviest fine: $35,000. Young began the fracas by shoving Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon after a hard foul. He was fined $25,000. Russell, who pushed Monroe in the back, was fined $15,000.
Lakers Coach Luke Walton will not be fined, the league said, for his postgame comments about the incident. The Bucks won the game, 107-103.
“D’Angelo only responded after Monroe grabbed Nick by the neck and thrown him,” Walton said. “So if D’Angelo didn’t push him, I would’ve been pissed off at him. He did the right thing. For the NBA to say two of them did the same thing and just canceled each other out is absolute crap to me. Because one, D’Angelo just shoved him in the back. Monroe grabbed him in the neck. I don’t know if he was mad that [Ivica] Zubac was kicking his butt up all night long out there.
“… And then Monroe went and slapped Brandon. In the face. He did all that and he got the same penalty as what D’Angelo did for just shoving someone in the back ... defending a teammate. That’s crap to me.”
A Bucks employee, probably a member of Milwaukee’s security staff, entered the fray and pushed Ingram away from it. Walton also took issue with that. There is no rule against security personnel being on the court, and the league did not publicly address that person’s involvement in the incident.
“He puts his hands on one of our players,” Walton said. “He works for them. He can touch their players all he wants. Don’t touch my damn players. Because if that’s OK, I’m sure we can find a couple people here in L.A. that want that job working for the Lakers, too.”
Studying up
Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka, President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson and Chief Operating Officer Tim Harris flew to New York on Sunday to meet with the league for training in the collective bargaining agreement and salary cap.
The NBA offers the training to all new league executives. It will be particularly helpful for Pelinka and Johnson, neither of whom have NBA front office experience, despite both being involved in the league for decades.
Having been an agent for more than 20 years, Pelinka has an understanding of NBA finances. He has already led the front office in presentations about what free agents will be available for the next several years and what they’ll cost.
“The No. 1 thing I want to do is understand the CBA and the salary cap,” Johnson said the day he got hired. “… I’ve already talked to Adam [Silver, NBA commissioner]. He’s been, ‘Hey wonderful, come on out. We teach every owner the new CBA.’”
Injury update
Lakers center Tarik Black returned after being unavailable Friday night with the flu. Black was available for the Lakers, but didn’t play. Young was not with the team, suffering from gastroenteritis, the team said. Young had started the previous two games at shooting guard. Young has started in all 60 games in which he’s played this season.
Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli
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