The NBA announced Sunday evening that Miami Heat forward Caleb Martin has been suspended for one game, while Toronto Raptors big man Christian Koloko has been fined $15,000 for their roles in an altercation that took place during a game Saturday night. The league also announced that Heat forward Nikola Jovic has been suspended for one game after leaving the bench during the altercation.
The altercation took place during the third quarter of Miami's 112-109 home win over Toronto on Saturday, when a loose ball foul from Martin led to a skirmish that spilled into the stands. Martin and Koloko got tangled up while going for a rebound, and it appeared that Koloko reached out to grab Martin as he fell to the floor.
Martin didn't take that well, as he then stood over Koloko in an intimidating fashion. When Koloko got up off the floor and wrapped his arms around Martin, the Heat forward went right into a form tackle that landed both players in the first couple of rows of the stands. Multiple players from both teams followed the duo in what ended up being quite a scene.
Tensions are HIGH between the Raps and Heat!
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 23, 2022
Caleb Martin and Christian Koloko get into it on the court. pic.twitter.com/7bNwJf0sAI
After an official review, Martin was assessed a personal foul, while both he and Koloko received technical fouls and ejections. No other players were assessed penalties on the play.
Things like this tend to happen from time to time in the NBA, but this one was particularly scary because it spilled over into the stands. You never want to see fans put in danger due to players getting into an argument, and luckily it appears that nobody was injured in the scuffle.
Now that the league has handed out punishment for the incident, both teams can now move forward from this altercation.
