Roy Hibbert, David Lee Suspended One Game; Lance Stephenson, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson Fined $35K

by Jared Wade on February 27, 2013 at 5:25 pm

Roy Hibbert speaks on the altercation. (via Pacers.com)

The NBA was relatively level headed while doling out punishment for last night’s Fracas in Indianapolis. The league announced today that Roy Hibbert and David Lee will be suspended one game without pay for “instigating” an altercation. Lee will sit out tonight against the Knicks while Hibbert (barring any unlikely appeal) will sit Thursday night against the Clippers.

For their role in “escalating the altercation,” the league has fined Lance Stephenson, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson $35,000 each.

As for David West, apparently even David Stern is afraid of him.

Other than him getting off scot free, this all was to be expected and seems pretty reasonable.

UPDATE: Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star has reported that Hibbert will pay Stephenson’s fine for him. A nice gesture from a guy reportedly making $13.7 million this year to a guy making $870,000.

Hibbert told The Indy Star that he’s going to pay Lance Stephenson’s $35K fine for being a good teammate and having his back.

— Mike Wells (@MikeWellsNBA) February 27, 2013

This will save Lance from forfeiting roughly 4% of his salary while bringing Roy’s total hit to around $200,000 (losing one game check plus picking up his little buddy’s tab).

As far as I know, all fines levied by the NBA go to charity (with the rationale being that the league can’t be objective about determining when fines are appropriate to hand out if they profit from the proceeds.)

So, rather than calling this a “brawl,” let’s go with “Shoving for a Good Cause.”