Los Angeles – The NBA assessed a $10,000 fine and a flagrant foul-two penalty on Nuggets forward Reggie Evans on Monday for what it labeled “unnecessary and excessive contact” with Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman.
But the league spared Evans a suspension, which the Clippers felt he should have received, clearing the way for him to play in Game 5 on Monday night. Had the flagrant-two foul been assessed in the game, he would have been ejected.
The incident took place Saturday night during Denver’s Game 4 loss. Kaman said Evans grabbed him below the belt from behind, which prompted him to shove Evans to the floor.
Evans received no foul, while Kaman received a type-one flagrant foul – less severe than what the NBA handed Evans on Monday. Denver’s Ruben Patterson also received a technical foul after the play. The NBA on Monday reduced Kaman’s penalty to a technical foul.
In between hearing jokes from his teammates about the situation, Evans reacted with a joke of his own before Monday night’s game: “I’ll get it back next year. I’m going to be straight because Greg Buckner is going to invite me to a couple of his basketball camps (to work).”
Kaman had assumed a suspension was coming and was visibly frustrated when he heard the news.
“That’s what you’d think, right? I guess you’ve got to bump someone with your shoulder,” he said.
Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy added, “I saw a number of other guys throughout the league be suspended for various acts (in the playoffs), and I thought this one, based on what I saw and what I’ve been told by everybody else, was a more serious incident than any of those, but it’s not my job to make that decision.”
Nuggets coach George Karl had planned for any possible decision.
“I thought it was a positive ruling for us,” he said. “I think most of us thought that he was going to get suspended.”
Before hearing of his punishment, Evans denied doing what Kaman said he did, although some video replays appeared to show Evans grabbing Kaman between the legs from behind.
“No, man. Look at the tape. Just look at it,” he said. “(Think about) the average people who probably get hit below. They all drop. Grab something. They are going to show some kind of reaction like, ‘Dang!’ This dude here was normal once I looked at the tape.”
Karl said the tape was not conclusive.
Evans joked that the attention he has received has helped distract the media’s attention from focusing on the struggles of the Nuggets and star Carmelo Anthony.
“You’ve got to love it, baby. You’ve got to love it. You get to see my face on TV. It takes heat off Melo,” Evans said.
