Austin Rivers, Mo Bamba, and Jalen Suggs collect suspensions after Magic vs Timberwolves skirmish

Things sure got real messy this past Friday in Minnesota! The NBA resolution came in the next day, as three athletes earned a suspension after the brawl between players from both Timberwolves and Magic.

The players who were most punished were Mo Bamba and Austin Rivers as they were the two principle figures in the fight. Orlando’s center got four games suspended, as for the Minnesota’s shooting guard got three. Jalen Suggs was also given a one-game punishment as his provocations escalated the brawl.

As for Jaden McDaniels and Taurean Prince were also ejected, but only the Timberwolves’ foward was fined $20,000 for his role in the altercation.

The incident started when Rivers walked off the court toward players on the Magic sideline. This incited Bamba to get up and follow him to throw a punch at the Timberwolves reserve, who then locked arms with the Brazilian and finally stumbled on court.

Check out last Friday’s brawl in the video below and judged it yourself:

Austin Rivers leaves the #Timberwolves sideline to fight Mo Bamba. You never see a player leaving the bench area to start a fight, big suspension looming pic.twitter.com/8RNT5pQ3UT

— uSTADIUM NBA (@uSTADIUMNBA) February 4, 2023

If you look closely, it seems like Rivers also threw punches as he was dragged to the floor. Multiple players then followed, which resulted in the other suspensions.

“I’m not making any judgment on Austin, what he did. I have no idea what started it or what happened,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said in press conference. “They had a guy come off the bench and throw a punch, which is one of the most egregious things you can do in the league right now, I mean, in these situations. But yeah, I make no judgment on Austin.”

After the game, Rivers said that he was merely standing up for himself. “I’m not some thug. I’m not a tough guy. I’m not a badass. I’m not any of those things, man,” the player mentioned. “I try to come to work and do my job. But I’ve been raised to stick up for myself, and if someone’s disrespecting me like that, I made a point just to say to him something, and he got up like that. And after that, I did what I had to do.”

Rivers explained that he did not like the way that Magic player Markelle Fultz reacted to his missed 3-pointer just before the brawl. “I just didn’t like the way he was talking to me — for no reason, too,” Rivers said.

The players then went at it each other on social media