In this article
HOUSTON — Marcus Smart will miss the Houston Rockets’ next three games after the NBA suspended him without pay Thursday for throwing a punch that made contact with the face of Golden State Warriors forward-center Charles Bassey.
James Jones, the NBA’s head of basketball operations, announced the suspension a day after Smart was ejected with 21 seconds left in the third quarter of Houston’s 115-108 win at Toyota Center. It starts Friday at home against the Utah Jazz and covers road games against the Washington Wizards on Sunday and the Miami Heat on Monday. Smart is eligible to return Wednesday, Nov. 18, against the Indiana Pacers.
It was Smart’s 13th career ejection and his first since 2023-24 with the Memphis Grizzlies, ESPN’s Michael C. Wright reported. Smart, 32, won Defensive Player of the Year in 2021-22 and signed with Houston as a free agent this summer. The Rockets are 9-3.
Charles Bassey Says Marcus Smart Played Dirty Before Punch
The two were jawing face to face when Smart’s right hand grazed Bassey’s nose, Wright reported, and Smart walked to the locker room before the Flagrant Foul 2 was announced. In a postgame interview with NBC Sports Bay Area, Bassey said the trouble started in the first half.
“He’s been playing dirty the whole game, man,” Bassey said. “Like I remember in the first half, I was trying to set the screen, bro. He grabbed my knee, so I mean, he was playing dirty. So I think I was trying to get a rebound. He was grabbing my hand, and I was trying to run back on defense. Then he was still grabbing, so I just like, you know, and then he got up on me and just, you know, swung.”
By Bassey’s account, Smart spoke first, telling him not to do something, and Bassey answered, “Do what?”
“I mean, it didn’t surprise me,” Bassey said. “I knew he was gonna do something.”
Ime Udoka Gives Smart’s Account
Rockets coach Ime Udoka talked with Smart after the game. In Smart’s account, the two got tangled up, his previously injured elbow got bent, and he said something to Bassey.
“Bassey said, ‘What you gonna do?’ and he did it,” Udoka said.
Bassey dismissed the punch as “fake toughness.”
“I don’t think he was trying to play. I think he was trying to get himself out of the game,” he said.
Join the conversation