Four Players Ejected In Thunder-Wizards Scuffle
An altercation late in the first half of Saturday’s game between the Thunder and Wizards resulted in four ejections (Twitter video link from Bleacher Report).
According to Joel Lorenzi and Josh Robbins of The Athletic, it started as a dispute between Washington’s Justin Champagnie and Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams that quickly involved several other players. Ajay Mitchell began exchanging words and shoves with Champagnie along the baseline, and the battle spilled into the courtside seats under the basket.
“I’ve never seen him like that,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of Mitchell. “But at the same time, I’m not really surprised by his reaction. He’s a tough kid, tough as nails. Not only on the court, but off the court as well. He’s as tough as they come, so I knew there’d be no back down when he’s involved in anything.”
After a long review by the officials, Champagnie and Williams were each given two technical fouls, which is an automatic ejection. Mitchell and the Thunder’s Cason Wallace were assessed one technical apiece and were also thrown out of the game.
In a pool report, crew chief John Goble explained that Champagnie and Williams each received one technical foul for pushing each other during a dead ball. Champagnie’s second technical was for making contact with Mitchell’s face, while Williams was T’d up for his actions during the fight.
Goble added that Mitchell and Wallace were tossed because they were not “acting as peacemakers” and were “escalating the altercation.”
The Wizards’ Anthony Gill appeared to shove Mitchell from behind, but Goble stated that no action was taken against him because Wallace pushed Gill into the scrum and it was “not observed that Gill did anything in an unsportsmanlike manner to assess a penalty.”
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said he’s “worked with John Goble a long time,” and they discussed the ejections before “agreeing to disagree.”
Wizards coach Brian Keefe was on the opposite side of the court and couldn’t see much of the scuffle, but he told reporters, “I just know that our guys stuck up for each other, which I always love.”
The authors note that Saturday’s incident was the third one involving the Thunder in the past few weeks. Luguentz Dort and Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears had a post-game altercation on January 27 that resulted in $25K fines for each of them, and Dort was ejected for tripping Denver center Nikola Jokic in late February, which prompted a face-to-face confrontation between Jokic and Williams.
“It’s a combination of things,” Isaiah Hartenstein replied when asked about the skirmishes. “We’re a physical team. Every time we play, I think there’s always a chip on the other team’s shoulder. We’re also not gonna back down against anything. I don’t really put anyone at fault for that — it just happens. We have a passionate group of guys, and every time we play, teams are coming with their best shot, and sometimes, it just gets physical.”
Saturday’s exchange is expected to result at least in fines and possibly suspensions. They’ll likely be announced before the Wizards play Sunday night in New York. Oklahoma City’s next game is Monday at Philadelphia.
Spurs’ Johnson, Cavs’ Atkinson Recognized As Coaches Of The Month
Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson was named the Coach of the Month for the Western Conference after leading his team to an 11-0 record in February, the NBA announced today (Twitter link).
It’s the second Coach of the Month honor this season for Johnson, who also won it after guiding San Antonio to an 8-3 mark in December. He’s the first NBA head coach to claim the award twice in 2025/26.
It also represents a clean sweep of the NBA’s monthly awards for the Spurs — in addition to Johnson’s Coach of the Month award, Victor Wembanyama was recognized as the West’s Player of the Month and Defensive Player of the Month for February, while Dylan Harper was named Rookie of the Month.
Mark Daigneault of the Thunder, Chris Finch of the Timberwolves, and Ime Udoka of the Rockets were also nominated for Coach of the Month in the West, per the league (Twitter link)
In the Eastern Conference, Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson was named Coach of the Month for February, beating out fellow nominees J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons), Mike Brown (Knicks), Charles Lee (Hornets), and Joe Mazzulla (Celtics).
After a shaky first half of the season, Cleveland has righted the ship in recent weeks and reclaimed a top-four spot in the Eastern standings. Atkinson’s team had an 8-3 record in February despite only playing three of those 11 games at home.
The East has yet to have a repeat Coach of the Month winner this season, with Bickerstaff (October/November), Mazzulla (December), and Lee (January) having previously been honored.
J.B. Bickerstaff To Coach In All-Star Game
The Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff has wrapped up one of three head coaching slots in next month’s All-Star Game, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
The Celtics’ loss on Saturday night in Chicago ensured that Detroit will hold the best record in the East by the February 1 cutoff. At 32-11, the Pistons have a five-game lead over second place Boston, which is 28-17.
The coaching honor continues a remarkable turnaround under Bickerstaff, who was hired in 2024 to take over a franchise that had finished last in the East in back-to-back years. He led Detroit to a 44-38 record last season, a 30-game improvement from the previous year, and a competitive first-round series against New York. The resurgence has continued as the Pistons currently have the second-best record in the NBA.
This will be Bickerstaff’s first time serving as a head coach in the All-Star Game, and he’s the first Detroit coach to enjoy that honor since Flip Saunders did it 20 years ago.
Oklahoma City holds a comfortable lead in the West, but Mark Daigneault was an All-Star head coach last season and league rules prohibit coaches from serving in that capacity in consecutive years. The honor will go to the coach with the second-best record on February 1, with San Antonio currently a half-game ahead of Denver and three games in front of Houston.
The All-Star Game, which takes place February 15 in Los Angeles, will feature a U.S. vs. the World format this year, with two teams of American players and one made up of players who were born elsewhere.
Spurs’ Johnson, Celtics’ Mazzulla Named Coaches Of The Month
Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson is December’s Coach of the Month in the Western Conference, while Joe Mazzulla of the Celtics is the Eastern Conference recipient of the award, the NBA announced today (Twitter link).
Johnson guided the Spurs to an 11-3 record in December, not including the NBA Cup final, which doesn’t count toward the regular season standings. San Antonio’s big month, which included three separate victories over the defending champion Thunder, occurred despite Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle each missing multiple games due to injuries.
In addition to posting the NBA’s best record for the month, the Spurs also had the fifth-best offensive rating (118.9) and sixth-ranked defensive rating (112.0), which helped earn Johnson Coach of the Month recognition over fellow nominees David Adelman (Nuggets), Mark Daigneault (Thunder), and Chris Finch (Timberwolves), per the league (Twitter link).
As for Mazzulla’s Celtics, they ranked eighth in the East entering December, but finished the month as the No. 3 seed in the conference after going 9-3.
Even without perennial All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum, Boston had the NBA’s best offensive rating (124.3) and second-best net rating (+11.0) in December en route to wins over the Knicks, Lakers, and Raptors (twice), among others.
J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons, Mike Brown of the Knicks, and Jordi Fernandez of the Nets were also nominated for the award.
Daigneault and Bickerstaff earned the monthly honor for games played in October and November.
Daigneault, Bickerstaff Named Coaches Of The Month
Mark Daigneault of the Thunder and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons have been named the NBA’s Coaches of the Month for games played in October and November, the league announced in a press release (Twitter links).
Daigneault won the award for the Western Conference, while Bickerstaff claimed the honor in the East.
After Oklahoma City held the best record in the NBA in 2024/25 at 68-14, Daigneault led the defending champions to a 20-1 record over the first month-plus of the season — unsurprisingly, that is once again the top record in the league.
Bickerstaff led the upstart Pistons to a 16-4 record during October and November, the top mark in the East and only trailing the Thunder for the best record in the NBA.
According to the league, David Adelman (Nuggets), Mitch Johnson (Spurs), Jordan Ott (Suns) and Ime Udoka (Rockets) were the other nominees in the West, while Kenny Atkinson (Cavaliers), Mike Brown (Knicks), Jamahl Mosley (Magic), Darko Rajakovic (Raptors), Quin Snyder (Hawks) and Erik Spoelstra (Heat) were nominated in the East.
Thunder Notes: SGA, Dort, Hartenstein, Daigneault
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had two of the league’s most prestigious trophies in his possession by the time the Thunder reached the NBA Finals, but he kept them out of sight so they wouldn’t distract from the ultimate goal, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. The award he got for being named Most Valuable Player of the Western Conference Finals stayed hidden in the back of his locker until the playoffs ended, while his regular season MVP trophy was in an even more remote spot.
“In its case, in the basement,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “All the joy and everything that comes with that would’ve been put on hold had we not won the championship, so that’d be my main goal. I had to put the fun aside for a bit, and then at the end, it was a little bit sweeter.”
SGA and his team appear to be on the way to collecting more hardware next spring and possibly for years to come. They’re off to an 11-1 start without their best lineup together, as All-Star wing Jalen Williams is still recovering from wrist surgery and other players have been in and out of the lineup during the first three weeks of the season.
As MacMahon explains, they’ve been able to keep winning due to a sense of professionalism and a commitment to hard work that permeate the organization, with Gilgeous-Alexander at the center of it.
“He still looks like he wants to make the team. That’s just his approach,” Luguentz Dort said. “That’s how he competes. He’s always been like that. The fact that he’s the leader of our team and still approaching it that way in Year 8 now, it just sets the tone for the rest of us. It’s like, man, we got to match that energy.”
There’s more from Oklahoma City:
- While the Thunder are favored to repeat as champions this season, ownership may have to be willing to spend into the second apron to build a dynasty capable of winning several titles, MacMahon adds. The first test will come next offseason when decisions have to be made on team options for Dort ($18.2MM) and Isaiah Hartenstein ($28.5MM). “There’s certain (times) where you think, ‘I could never imagine being somewhere else,’ but for me, it’s right now,” Hartenstein said. “How can I be focused on the present moment? Then I think everything will figure itself out when it’s done. And I think with the second apron, winning always helps. So, if we just keep winning, I think we can keep the team together.”
- In an interview with Mark Medina of Athlon Sports, Gilgeous-Alexander said head coach Mark Daigneault deserves more credit for his role in making the team successful. “The biggest thing is Coach does a really good job of setting the tone,” he said. “The group is a certain way, obviously, and the characters in the room. But Coach does a really good job of holding every guy in the room, including myself, to the highest standard and not letting it slip, no matter what.”
- Daigneault tells Sam Amick of The Athletic that the Thunder adjusted their normal offseason schedule to give players more time to savor the accomplishment of winning a title. “Normally guys are coming into Oklahoma City in early September, and we pushed that back — for the guys that played a lot,” he said. “So we tried to extend the summer as much as we could, and not feel this insecurity to turn the page too fast, so that they could fully enjoy and decompress from last season. And then we just tried to present it as an end point. Last season ended. This season starts. That was the 2025 championship. No one’s taking it away from us. It’s ours for the rest of our lives, but it’s also over.”
And-Ones: Pierce, Mosley, Daigneault, NBA Europe, Project B
Former Celtics star Paul Pierce was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of driving under the influence after he was found asleep behind the wheel on U.S. Highway 101 in Los Angeles, per an Associated Press report.
California Highway Patrol officers, who were responding to the scene of an unrelated car crash in the area, saw Pierce’s Range Rover nearby after they reopened the four affected highway lanes, according to a press release. Pierce was asleep and showed “signs of alcohol impairment,” prompting the officers to conduct a DUI investigation and arrest him on a misdemeanor charge.
Pierce, a 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer who won a title with Boston in 2008, has been out of the NBA since 2017, but has worked in broadcasting roles for ESPN and Fox Sports since then.
We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- While nothing has been set in stone yet, Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley and Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault are two names to watch as potential candidates for Team USA’s coaching staff when Erik Spoelstra takes over coaching duties, sources tell Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
- The EuroLeague, the NBA, and FIBA met again this week as the NBA and FIBA continue to explore the potential creation of a European league. In the wake of Wednesday’s meeting, the EuroLeague released a statement that thanked the NBA for “constructive dialogue” but said the proposal for collaboration the EuroLeague presented at the previous meeting has yet to receive “any meaningful response.” According to Alessandro Luigi Maggi of Sportando (Twitter link), the NBA views the model proposed by the EuroLeague as unsustainable.
- While Maverick Carter is no longer part of the proposed basketball league known as “Project B,” other organizers and investors are moving forward with plans for the global league, according to Sam Amick, Mike Vorkunov, and Vardon of The Athletic, who share the latest details. Project B co-founder Grady Burnett tells The Athletic that the goal is to launch a women’s basketball league next fall, with the goal of setting up a men’s league as well. “We’re going to focus on the women’s side at this point,” he said. “I think it’s natural to assume that we will do other things after that.”
Northwest Notes: Daigneault, Holmgren, Trail Blazers Sale
Champion Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is building a team culture that will help Oklahoma City thrive long-term, Rylan Stiles of Thunder On SI opines.
Daigneault got his start as the head coach of the club’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, in 2014. He served as an assistant coach under Billy Donovan first in 2016, and again during Donovan’s final season with the Thunder, 2019/20. Daigneault was then elevated to the head coaching role the subsequent season.
After the team missed the postseason while strategically tanking from 2020-22, Daigneault helped the young Thunder post a 40-42 record in 2022/23 and make the play-in tournament. Oklahoma City has notched the best record in the Western Conference for each of the past two seasons. Daigneault was named the league’s Coach of the Year with the 57-25 Thunder in 2023/24, and won a title with the 68-14 club this past June.
Stiles observes that Daigneault’s Thunder players can often be heard parroting many of his strategic talking points and suggests that’s a positive indicator of their commitment to his approach.
There’s more out of the Northwest:
- Rising Thunder big man Chet Holmgren agreed to a five-year, maximum rookie-scale extension this summer. The deal is projected to be worth around $240MM. Stiles observes that Oklahoma City has everything it needs to help Holmgren reach another level on offense. The 7’1″ center out of Gonzaga has struggled with significant health challenges during his nascent pro career, having missed all of what would have been his rookie season in 2022/23 with a foot ailment and sitting out 50 regular season bouts in 2024/25 due to a pelvic fracture. In the 32 regular season games he did play last year, Holmgren averaged 15.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.2 BPG, 2.0 APG and 0.7 SPG.
- A group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has reportedly agreed to purchase controlling ownership of the Trail Blazers for $4.25 billion. Dundon and the Paul Allen estate are hoping to finalize an agreement in September, according to Matthew Kish and Bill Oram of The Oregonian, who take a closer look at the next steps in the process and what to expect from the new owners. It is anticipated that Dundon will be the biggest shareholder involved, but he’ll also be joined by Blue Owl Capital co-president Marc Zahr and Collective Global Management CEO Sheel Tyle. Tyle is based in Portland.
- In case you missed it, the Timberwolves are reportedly considering a potential reunion with free agent sharpshooter Malik Beasley.
Thunder Notes: Dynasty Talk, Caruso, Holmgren, Dort
As Oklahoma City celebrated its first-ever NBA title Sunday night, speculation began about how many more this version of the Thunder might be able to get, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The Game 7 win over Indiana made OKC the second-youngest champion in NBA history, and Reynolds points out that the organization is set up very well for the future.
The Thunder are built around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who completed the rare feat of winning MVP, Finals MVP and a scoring title in the same season. SGA and just about other every important player on the roster are under contract for next season, and rookie scale extensions are looming for Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. Oklahoma City has a treasure trove of draft assets, including the No. 15 and 24 picks this year, along with Nikola Topic, a 2024 lottery pick who sat out the entire season due to injury.
“We definitely still have room to grow,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That’s the fun part of this. So many of us can still get better. There’s not very many of us on the team that are in our prime or even close to it. We have a lot to grow, individually and as a group. I’m excited for the future of this team. This is a great start, for sure.”
“There’s no guarantee you end it the way that we did,” Daigneault said. “I just wanted it so bad for them. I was just so thrilled that we were able to get that done and they get to experience this because they deserve it. The way they approach it, the professionalism, competitiveness, team-first nature, like I said, I wanted it so bad for them.”
There’s more from Oklahoma City:
- An offseason trade for Alex Caruso added to the Thunder’s collection of elite defenders, notes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Caruso’s versatility and his willingness to do things that aren’t glamorous made him an indispensable part of the championship run. “I think just through my career, I figured out that I can do stuff that’s not necessarily sexy or not necessarily the mainstream offensive or even defensive skill set that people recognize,” Caruso said. “I just leaned into it. I practiced being great at the stuff that nobody else does, carving a role for myself in the league. I think through the years, I’ve just kind of perfected that stuff.”
- Holmgren set a record Sunday night by blocking five shots, the most ever in an NBA Finals Game 7 since blocks began being recorded in 1973/74, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. It was a satisfying conclusion for Holmgren, who missed more than half of the regular season due to a hip injury. “Honestly, I never really play for records,” he said. “I never play for stats. All that will be forgotten. But us winning is forever. It’s immortal. I’m just so happy we were able to do that together as a team.”
- Luguentz Dort would normally be a strong extension candidate, but it won’t be an easy decision for the Thunder, who already have extension decisions to make on Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Williams, Bobby Marks of ESPN writes in his offseason guide. Marks also expects OKC to aggressively look for trades involving its two first-round picks and one second-rounder in Wednesday’s draft.
NBA Finals Notes: Game 6, Daigneault, SGA, Haliburton
With a chance to capture their first title since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City, Thunder players are focused on the process of winning Game 6 rather than its historical implications, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Heavy favorites when the series began, OKC has a chance to celebrate tonight on the Pacers‘ home court.
“We want to win the game tomorrow, but the most important thing we need to do to win the game tomorrow is prepare today and prepare tomorrow and play the first possession really well, then the next possession, then the next possession,” coach Mark Daigneault told reporters on Wednesday. “That’s how we try to approach a game, how we try to approach the playoff series, how we try to approach every single day and let that win the day.”
The Thunder have largely controlled the series after letting Game 1 slip away due to a miraculous Indiana comeback. They won handily in Game 2, staged a rally of their own in Game 4, then took their first lead of the series in Game 5. MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is encouraging his teammates to take their normal approach to tonight’s game and not get distracted by thoughts of a victory celebration.
“The cusp of winning is not winning,” he said. “The way I see it, winning is all that matters. It hasn’t been fulfilled. We haven’t done anything.”
There’s more on the Finals:
- Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton is considered to be a game-time decision, but ESPN’s Brian Windhorst expects him to play. Appearing this morning on Get Up (YouTube link), Windhorst noted that Indiana’s medical staff already had the results of Haliburton’s MRI from Tuesday when the team listed him as questionable. He believes the Pacers are “setting the stage” for Haliburton to be active, but it’s uncertain if the right calf strain is too severe for him to be effective.
- An ESPN panel doesn’t give the Pacers much chance of extending the series if Haliburton can’t live up to his normal standards. While most of the group expects the Finals to end tonight, Jamal Collier observes that Indiana’s role players have performed better at home, while Zach Kram points to Andrew Nembhard as someone who could swing the series if he can find a way to score like he did earlier in the playoffs.
- With the Finals nearing their conclusion, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic examines why the games often seem less important than they used to. He cites a number of factors, including a “humdrum” presentation and the league-wide focus on the transactions cycle, and suggests that things may change when NBC resumes its coverage of the NBA this fall.