Erik Spoelstra defends Myron Gardner after $35,000 fine

ByNBAUSA



As Miami Heat forward Myron Gardner and Scottie Pippen Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies collided on saturday night which led to a brawl that ended up in the stands, two players were fined. With Heat and Grizzlies players receive penalties for participating in a fight, head coach Erik Spoelstra he would go out and defend his player.

The incident occurred with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter of what would have been Miami’s eventual 136-120 victory over the Grizzlies, but what led to it happened earlier. It started with Gardner goes for a defensive rebound, but it looked like Pippen could push the Heat forward out of the way.

Then, on the other end of the court, as Pippen took a 3-pointer, he ran right into Gardner, who appeared to step right in front of the Grizzlies guard to make him fall. Pippen would then retaliate by starting a fight at the corner, leading to Spoelstra saying Gardner was an “easy target” and how even though he would move on, “I don’t agree” with a fine.

“He’s a young player. It’s easy for the league to put a point on this because it went to the stands,” Spoelstra told the Miami Herald. “But we don’t agree with that. It’s Pippen who pushed him into the stands and Myron didn’t fight back. When he was on the ground, he was laughing. So if it had been somebody else, I don’t think it would have been a $35,000 fine. But we’re moving on.”

Heat is Myron Gardner about the “accident” he made.

Doc Spoelstra defended the young Heat playerwho had just moved to a standard deal from a two-way deal earlier this week, would say after Monday’s practice that it would be a “good teaching moment” for Gardner. The striker himself would say that he accidentally “ran into” Pippen, which resulted in a reaction from the Memphis quarterback.

“Oh, man. It feels really easy, for sure,” Gardner said. “But that’s good. It’s behind me now. So there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Either way, Miami and Gardner look to put that event in the rearview mirror as the team faces the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.





2026-02-23 19:13:00

Similar Posts