SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The NBA came down hard on Kings center Domantas Sabonis following his confrontation with official Josh Tiven in Monday’s loss to the New York Knicks.
President of League Operations Byron Spruell announced Wednesday that Sabonis has been suspended one game without pay for “aggressively confronting and making contact with a game official.”
Sabonis will serve the suspension when the Kings face the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center. Sabonis argued vehemently after being whistled for a foul on Immanuel Quickley with 4:35 remaining in Monday’s 131-115 loss to the Knicks. The league issued a statement describing the sequence of events that led to Sabonis’ ejection, the first of his career.
“The incident began with Sabonis receiving a technical foul for an unsportsmanlike reaction to a called foul,” the league said. “Sabonis then reacted demonstratively again in the vicinity of the game official, and approached and bumped the official in a hostile manner, resulting in a second technical foul and an ejection.”
The Kings issued a statement of their own after the suspension was announced, saying they disagree with the league’s ruling.
“We disagree with the NBA’s decision to suspend Domantas Sabonis,” the team said. “He is a consummate professional and the ultimate competitor. We stand behind Domas, and he has our full support.”
Sabonis, 25, had appeared in 410 games over his six-year NBA career without an ejection. The Kings acquired the two-time All-Star before the NBA trade deadline in a deal that sent Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Sabonis, Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb.
Sabonis has averaged 17.4 points, 12.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 11 games for the Kings. He was asked about his ejection after the Kings let a 20-point lead slip away in the loss to the Knicks.
“It was just a frustrating game,” Sabonis said. “I feel like we keep getting these leads playing the right way, and we just can’t come out in the second half and sustain it. It gets frustrating, especially when you’re fighting for position. … It’s been three or four games that we’ve blown a lead like that. It’s frustrating when you want to win.”
