Kings' Sabonis suspended 1 game for making contact with official
Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis has been suspended one game without pay for aggressively confronting and making contact with an official, the NBA announced Wednesday.
Sabonis will serve his suspension during Wednesday's contest against the Denver Nuggets.
During the fourth quarter of Sacramento's 131-115 loss to the New York Knicks on March 7, Sabonis was assessed a technical foul after an "unsportsmanlike reaction" to a call, as the NBA described it. He then received a second technical and was ejected after bumping the referee in a "hostile manner."
Sabonis was ejected after this play pic.twitter.com/dUiuFQKmQN
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) March 8, 2022
Sabonis' suspension will cost him $127,856, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.
The Kings released a statement Wednesday afternoon expressing their displeasure with Sabonis' punishment.
We disagree with the NBA’s decision to suspend Domantas Sabonis. He is a consummate professional and the ultimate competitor. We stand behind Domas, and he has our full support.
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) March 9, 2022
Without Sabonis, the Kings will likely turn to both Chimezie Metu and Damian Jones in the frontcourt to try and slow down Denver's MVP candidate, Nikola Jokic. Trey Lyles is likely to see more usage as well.
The Kings are currently 13th in the West with a 24-43 record and sit four games back of New Orleans for the No. 10 seed and final play-in tournament spot.