The excitement of competition often warms the blood and boosts adrenaline.
However, it can contribute to rather embarrassing incidents, spoiling the experience of the sport.
During the Minnesota Timberwolves’ regular season game against the Orlando Magic, a scuffle broke out between Timberwolves’ guard Austin Rivers and Magic’s center Mo Bamba.
The incident occurred late in the third quarter. Austin Rivers was standing near the Orlando bench where he appeared to be having a dialogue with Mo Bamba. The players’ verbal tiff escalated into a physical encounter. As a result, some players from both teams and the referee began to separate the players, while other players took part in it.
The fight resulted in Rivers, Jaden McDaniels and Taurean Prince from the Timberwolves, as well as Bamba and Jalen Suggs from Orlando, being removed from the court.
After the game, Rivers attributed the incident to Bamba’s disrespectful remarks:
“For no reason, too. I don’t even know that dude. I don’t know anything about him.
Obviously, I just know he’s a player for the Magic. And he proceeded to talk, so that next possession, when I went down there, I just said, pretty much, ‘Just keep it respectful, bro…’ I’m not going to let somebody disrespect me,” commented Rivers to the US media.
However, Markelle Fultz, who was sitting next to Bamba, said that his colleague had not made any provocative statements and that Rivers had erupted out of the blue:
“It was just … people talking trash when somebody shoots on the side,” Fultz said, according to US media. “Same stuff they do on their side. I don’t know if it was something that [Rivers] has been dealing with or something, but he got extremely mad, and that’s what he chose to do to retaliate.”
The Magic led 83-73 at the time of the incident and went on to win by a total score of 127-120 despite losing a brief 20-point lead. D’Angelo Russell was the highest scorer of the game, getting 29 points for the Timberwolves.
