Accordingly, the NBL has today issued the following fines:
- Sydney's Ian Crosswhite and Melbourne’s Lucas Walker have each been fined $500 for unnecessarily joining in an on-court scuffle;
- Sydney’s Ben Madgen has been fined $500 for unacceptable contact to Melbourne Tigers player Seth Scott;
- Melbourne Tigers court announcer Wayne Peterson has received a $500 fine for breaching the NBL’s rules during the incident regarding acceptable behaviour from a court announcer. This fine has been suspended but will come into effect if the court announcing guidelines are breached again by Peterson; and
- Perth’s Brad Robbins has been fined $500 for unnecessarily joining in an on-court altercation.
The NBL has also issued the following warnings:
- Sydney’s Aaron Bruce has been formally warned for significantly exaggerating contact by Melbourne’s Chris Goulding in the third period of the game which led to an unsportsmanlike foul being assessed on Goulding; and
- Sydney head coach Shane Heal has been formally warned for leaving the designated bench area during the on-court scuffle for purposes other than those allowed under FIBA Rules.
Basketball Australia’s General Manager of Professional Leagues Chuck Harmison said players and officials must be held accountable for their actions during the on-court incident.
"The NBL has a strong reputation as a family-friendly sport, and the type of incidents that occurred on the weekend has the potential to damage that reputation," said Mr Harmison.
“We simply cannot allow the hot-headed actions of a few individuals to do that.
“We won’t tolerate players flopping in games, nor will we accept players being the 'second-man in’ once an altercation has started. We will also hold our coaches and officials accountable under the rules of the game.
“The NBL has a responsibility as the role model for domestic basketball in Australia and we won’t tolerate actions in our matches that would be unacceptable for the hundreds of thousands of juniors playing the sport in our country.”
