Lakers guard Marcus Smart has been fined $35K for “making an obscene gesture toward a game official,” the NBA announced on Saturday (via Twitter).
Smart was penalized for giving the middle finger to the refs at halftime during Thursday’s win in Utah, tweets Dan Woike of The Athletic.
Through 17 games in his first season with Los Angeles, Smart is averaging 10.6 points, 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 27.2 minutes per contest. His shooting slash line is .431/.330/.917.
While those numbers don’t jump off the page, the Lakers have been far better when Smart is on the court (+8.5 per 100 possessions) than when he’s not playing (-2.8), particularly on the defensive end.
Smart signed a two-year, $10.5MM contract with the Lakers over the summer after reaching a buyout with Washington. The Wizards are carrying $14.8MM in dead money on their books in 2025/26 as a result of that agreement.
Adam Silver was able to fine a guy fast for using a middle finger but still can’t figure out Rozier was gambling or Kawhi got a no-show endorsement deal.
well yeah, they have evidence of it
There’s tons of evidence for the other two as well. Podcasters are getting famous talking about the gambling and endorsement deal. Pablo Torre alone has folders of evidence and over a million views on the Kawhi deal. The FBI has enough evidence to press charges and informed the NBA of the investigation years ago.
Silver was going to sweep the gambling under the rug until the FBI pressed charges. He admitted as much on camera. How long should it take a commissioner to gather evidence someone is willing to throw games to win prop bets?
i don’t know, how long? because i don’t think these 2 things are anywhere near the same
The NBA has received a ton of money from gambling. Advertising, different organizations sponsorship, etc.
They’re not about to demonize the activity and penalize guys to the point of damaging the halo sitting on top of the industry.
Silver has to be very careful here and it’s going to take an agreement that everyone is happy with. Very complex matter that doesn’t find resolution in a month or two.
Punishing violations of the law or NBA policy isn’t complex. It’s only complex if the real goal is to circumvent justice and accountability.