Three players were ejected for fighting between the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks on Friday night – and Kyrie Irving says it is just what the NBA needs.
Amid the NBA’s well known struggle to increase its number of viewers, the Mavericks guard Irving joked that a bit more fighting might attract people to tune in.
Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic and Dallas forwards Naji Marshall and P.J Washington were ejected as fists were thrown between the players during the Mavericks’ 98-89 victory over the Suns.
‘Maybe that’s just the way we end 2024, where somebody actually swings in the NBA,’ Irving joked. ‘Maybe that will help our ratings.
‘I was a little confused, it happened so quickly. Moments like that, I feel like people are protecting themselves. You’ve got to put your hands up and at least swing back.
‘I’ll take care of their fines and throw that s*** under the rug, excuse my language. It’s part of basketball sometimes.’
Three players were ejected for fighting when the Suns played the Mavericks on Friday night
Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic and Dallas forwards Naji Marshall and P.J Washington left the game
Nurkic was called for an offensive foul while being guarded by Daniel Gafford with 9:02 left in the third quarter before the altercation quickly escalated.
Nurkic confronted Marshall before taking an open-handed swing at his head and then Marshall responded with a punch.
Washington quickly shoved Nurkic to the ground before the teams were separated.
‘Just protecting each other – that´s what that was,’ Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said.
‘Emotions can get high, so our guys protect one another. We talk about it and it was displayed tonight.’
The referees reviewed the play before deciding that all three players would be ejected.
But Suns coach Mike Budenholzer was not in agreement with Irving.
‘I think that level of altercation is not good for our team, it’s not good for anybody individually, it’s not good for our league,’ he said. ‘I don’t know all the details of what got it to that point.’
Kyrie Irving joked after the game that more fighting will improve the NBA’s TV ratings
There has been concern about a drift in NBA ratings, encapsulated by Christmas Day ratings.
Despite LeBron James defiantly claiming Christmas belongs to the NBA, the NFL games performed far better this week, helped in part by them being made available on Netflix.
The NFL and Nielsen said 65 million U.S. viewers tuned in for at least one minute of one of the two NFL games on Christmas Day.
The NBA’s five-game slate averaged about 5.25m viewers per game across ABC, ESPN and its platforms, according to the league and Nielsen.
Even though the NBA had the sports calendar to itself on December 25 for many years, the NFL has made Christmas one of its tentpole events during the regular season.
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