Sacramento Kings Forward Suspended For Inciting Brawl

Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez was choked and left with a bleeding gash over his eye after a scrap with the Sacramento Kings' Trey Lyles Monday night. The NBA has now made its ruling and handed down a one-game suspension for Lyles.

The NBA suspended Sacramento Kings forward Trey Lyles for one game for his role in altercation with Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez on Monday night. Lopez was fined $25,000.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 15, 2023

The NBA levied the banishment to Lyles for instigating the affair, after he aggressively tried to strip the ball from Giannis Antetokounmpo and then shoved him as he was just dribbling out the clock at the end of the game. 

In its ruling, the league said that Lyles started the incident with a shove — then escalating things by “striking Lopez in the face and grabbing and holding Lopez around the neck area.”

Lopez was fined $25,000 for his part in the fracas. He jumped to Giannis' support after Lyles' shove, confronting the Kings' forward, and the two of them then went at it. Soon, Lyles' hand was gripped tightly around Lopez' throat. 

It was a tense meeting, as the No. 1 team in the East faced the No. 2 seed in the West. 

Kings coach Mike Brown came to his charges' defense afterward. “I don’t know what happened, but we ain’t taking s*** from nobody. Trust me on that. And they’re all going to have each other’s backs in there.”

Lopez, however, echoed the same sentiments about having his teammates' backs. “I thought what that guy did to Giannis was cheap. He didn't need to do any of that stuff. He stepped up to Giannis a little bit as he walked off and I didn't like that. I had my guy’s back like I would have any of my teammates.”

Photo: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports