After making a gesture considered obscene by the NBA to the referees of the match between the Lakers and the Jazz, Marcus Smart received a hefty fine.
Marcus Smart should have restrained himself. This Thursday, at halftime of the regular season match between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz on the floor of the Delta Center, the back of the Californian franchise attacked the referees. Indeed,
the Flower Mound native made a gesture to officials that the NBA described as “obscene” after not accepting one of their decisions. A disapproval which earned him a technical foul, his third of the season, during a tense meeting but won by LeBron James’ teammates.
If a total of three Lakers players had been called to order by the referees, the case of Marcus Smart went much further. In fact, the NBA decided to sanction him after this outburst towards the referees. Thus, through a press release, the North American basketball league announced that it had sanctioned the player of the Californian franchise with a fine amounting to $35,000or a little less than 30,000 euros. Excesses of which the Texan is accustomed. In fact, he was fined $25,000 (21,345 euros) in 2017 after insulting a spectator.
Not a first for Smart
Three years later, criticism of the referees earned him a new fine of $15,000. (12,807 euros) then, in 2023, the words he may have said towards officials during a meeting had already earned him a fine amounting to $35,000 from the NBA.
Fortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers, Marcus Smart was not suspended while he averages 10.6 points, 2.9 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game and while the Californian franchise must cope without Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton or even Rui Hachimura.
