Chicago Bulls coach avoids NBA punishment despite Utah Jazz scuffle
NBAChicago Bulls assistant coach Chris Fleming won’t be disciplined for getting into a dust up with Utah Jazz forward John Collins on Tuesday.
Fleming and Collins engaged in a player-and-coach fight that is almost unheard of in the NBA.
While coaches typically try to de-escalate tension between players, Fleming found himself tussling with Collins following a crucial foul down the stretch of their 119-117 win over Collins’ Jazz.
Despite the brouhaha, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan issued encouraging news about one of his right hand men.
Bulls assistant gets off wild fight Scott’s free
Donovan addressed the situation before the media prior to the Bulls’ Thursday night matchup against the Golden State Warriors, per Janie McCauley of the Associated Press.
“I didn’t get all the different camera angles on the situation but certainly I think Chris was trying to defuse the situation and it ultimately escalated the situation. That’s the unfortunate part,” Donovan said. “But I think it’s a lesson for us from the perspective that we’ve just got to worry about controlling our bench and our guys. … Certainly I don’t think Chris’ intentions were ever to be physical.”
As ESPN published, players initially crowded around DeMar DeRozan after he was hacked by Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton off the inbounds pass with under 10 seconds to go.
Sexton then got into a verbal spat with Torrey Craig, which roused up players from both teams, including Collins.
Judging from the looks of it, Fleming appeared like he was trying to hold Collins back from retaliating against Craig, but Collins shoved his arm out of the way, which set things off.
Nothing more than that and a few expletives were exchanged. As a result, Fleming won’t be fined or suspended by the league or the Bulls organization.
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