Thomas Bryant fined $45K for making contact with official while trying to fight Blake Griffin
Detroit Pistons big man Blake Griffin has one more thing to laugh about Saturday. Washington Wizards center Thomas Bryant was fined $45,000 by the NBA after making inappropriate contact with an official, the league announced.
The incident occurred during Thursday’s preseason game. In the third quarter of the contest, Griffin grabbed Bryant by the hips and threw him to the ground. Bryant got up and immediately tried to confront Griffin, but an official got in between both men.
While trying to get at Griffin, Bryant touched and shoved an NBA official multiple times. During the kerfuffle, Griffin stood there and laughed at Bryant.
Blake Griffin laughing and is completely unbothered by Thomas Bryant charging at him in a preseason game. Blake gets a flagrant one for throwing him to the ground. #Pistons pic.twitter.com/Yn3SV6LFe7
— Jonathan Deutsch (@JonathanD_TV) December 18, 2020
Griffin was charged with a flagrant one foul for his actions. Bryant received a technical foul for going after Griffin.
Thomas Bryant looking for more improvement this season
Bryant’s actions and fine overshadowed his promising stat line from Thursday’s game. Bryant scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots in a 97-86 loss to the Pistons. Bryant, 23, has shown steady improvement over his NBA career, increasing his points per game to a career-high 13.2 last season.
Bryant will look to continue that improvement during the 2020-21 NBA season. While the Wizards aren’t expected to be a dominant team in the Eastern Conference, they should be much improved after acquiring Russell Westbrook in the offseason.
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