NBA suspends Naji Marshall and Yusuf Nurkic after on-court fight

After this weekend’s scuffle between Naji Marshall and Jusuf Nurkic, the NBA decided to take the matter into their own hands and suspended the Mavericks forward for four games and the Suns center for three, considering their roles during the on-court fight on this past Friday evening. 

However, one more Dallas player received punishment, as P.J. Washington also received a one-game ban. The league then announced that all three suspensions  are without pay. Phoenix coach Mike Budenholzer said before their game on Saturday against Golden State that he accepts the NBA’s decisions.

“We want to support Nurk in every way we can,” the tactician said in California, before losing 109 to 105 to the Warriors at Chase Center. “He’s a great teammate.”

Kyrie says he’ll pay Naji Marshall and PJ Washington fines for fight with Jusuf Nurkic, per @DuaneRankin

“Throw that s*** under the rug. Excuse my language. Maybe that's just the way we end 2024 where somebody actually swings in the NBA. Maybe that will help our ratings.” pic.twitter.com/wjWmWlMLPB

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 28, 2024

The situation unfolded when the Bosnian center was called out for an offensive foul while being guarded by Daniel Gafford with nine minutes left in the third quarter. Jusuf went over to confront the Mavs players and encountered Marshall, taking an open-handed swing to his rival’s head, to which Naji responded immediately with a punch.

PJ then shoved the Suns big man to the ground, before everyone finally intervened to separate both teams. The officials took the immediate decision to eject all three players from the game, that Dallas went on to win 98 to 89.

Nurkic was called for an offensive foul while being guarded by Daniel Gaffordwith 9:02 left in the third quarter before the altercation quickly escalated. Nurkic confronted Marshall before taking an open-handed swing at his head and then Marshall responded with a punch. Washington quickly shoved Nurkic to the ground before the teams were separated.

The league said that Marshall  “attempted to further engage Nurkic in a hostile manner in the corridor outside the locker rooms.”

The Suns coach insisted that these situations are “not good for anybody” but that it is only natural that the players emotions sometimes get in the way

“You never want these things to even escalate to probably the point that it did, and the concern about any other continued situation is not good for anybody,” Budenholzer said once the match was over, talking mostly about Marshall’s actions.

He then added: “The way our arenas are set up, I think we all have to be aware and just do our best to keep our players — when the emotions get high like that — try and get them to a good, safe place.”

All of the player’s suspensions were made effective by Saturday, so Marshall and Washington were out for their game against Portland, while Nurkic missed out on the match against Golden State.

Jason Kidd justified his player’s actions by saying that they were just protecting each other from Jusuf’s actions on Friday. “It’s appropriate that we’d go by what the league handed out,” he said Saturday night when asked about the suspensions. “Next two guys up, we move forward.”