Sydney Kings star Jaylen Adams is free to play in the NBL finals series despite pleading guilty to an ugly eye-gouging charge.
Adams was ejected during the final minutes of his team's 95-75 loss to the Illawarra Hawks on Friday night after deliberately poking his opponent in the eye.
The incident occurred after Adams clashed bodies with Wani Swaka Lo Buluk off the ball as he tried to block the Illawarra player's path.
An angry Swaka Lo Buluk immediately confronted Adams, who responded by sticking his finger into his opponent's left eye region.
That further infuriated Swaka Lo Buluk, with the referee ejecting Adams after reviewing the footage.
The NBL charged Adams with "eye gouging or unreasonable or unnecessary contact to the eye region".
The incident was classified as intentional, low impact and high contact, drawing a one-match ban, or a $1550 fine with an early plea.
The Kings have confirmed Adams has pleaded guilty to the charge, freeing him to play in his team's play-in elimination match.
Barring an unlikely late change in ladder positions, Sydney are set to finish fifth, meaning they will host Adelaide in a cut-throat play-in match.
Adams scored 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting against the Hawks in a disappointing finish to the season.
On January 24, he scored 43 points in a loss to Adelaide, but the 28-year-old American followed that up with a one-point stinker against the Wildcats last week.
