Basketball is a physical sport that involves a lot of contact. Given that the NBA is arguably the best basketball league in the world, it doesn’t fall short in terms of the level of physicality and competitiveness. As we all know, players are willing to do whatever it takes to win in the NBA.

Unfortunately, there are some cases where we see players get carried away with their emotions. Some get ticked off from trash-talk, while others lose their cool when an opposing player commits an unnecessary harmful play. Whether it’s intentional or not, there are just some acts that can automatically flare up tempers in a game. More often than not, this usually results into a scuffle that can be shrugged off. However in a worse case scenario, a badly handled scuffle can escalate into an ugly brawl.

Brawls are relatively rare in the NBA. However, given that the league is highly competitive and emotions can get high, they do happen. In fact, arguably the worse brawl in professional sports history happened in the NBA in the form of the Malice in the Palace, back in 2004. Fortunately, the two main fixtures of that brawl are now in good terms.

The league is relatively lenient when it comes to brawls, given that there hasn’t been a single player in history that has been banned for engaging in one. However, the league doesn’t hesitate to hand out suspensions and fines should a player get himself involved in a brawl. It’s no stranger to anyone that brawls are a true display of the lack of sportsmanship and professionalism. While they certainly add more drama to the competition, these brawls are ugly sights to see for the sport. For this piece, let’s take a look at the five most intense on-court altercations in recent memory.

NBA Altercations (Not Really Any NBA Brawls)

Myles Turner and Rudy Gobert (2021)

Despite the NBA season still in its early stages, tempers have already flared up. In a game between the Jazz and the Pacers on November 12, 2021, centers Rudy Gobert and Myles Turner engaged in an ugly scuffle during a heated fourth quarter. It’s worth noting both were top candidates for the Defensive Player of the Year last season with Gobert eventually winning it.

After Turner’s defensive play against Gobert, the Jazz center held on to the shorts of the Pacers center, which the latter didn’t like.

In the post-game conference, Turner blamed Gobert saying, “I thought it was a dirty play. When [Gobert] pulled my shorts, I wasn’t about to have that, so I had to stand up for myself in that situation.”

The scuffle resulted into a mind-boggling four ejections. Aside from Gobert and Turner, Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles also got involved and were taken out of the game. While none of these players got suspended, the league handed out fines. Gobert was slapped with the heftiest fine of $35,000. On the other hand, Ingles was fined $30,000 and Mitchell $20,000. Turner was penalized with a $25,000 fine.

Fortunately for Turner, his team managed to pull out a 111-100 victory over the Jazz. Furthermore, Turner also managed to make it in the Top Five of the Pacers’ All-Time Block Leaders in that very game.

LeBron James and Isaiah Stewart (2021)

Aside from the Pacers-Jazz contest, shortly after another near scuffle dangerously escalated. Surprisingly, it involved The King himself, LeBron James. In the third quarter between the Pistons and the Lakers, while Jerami Grant was making his free throws, James’ elbow connected with the head of Pistons big man, Isaiah Stewart. As a result, Stewart would engage James in a scuffle, with the former even dramatically charging against James which forced arena security to step in.

https://twitter.com/Jomboy_/status/1462827107101429771

While Stewart claims that James’ elbow was intentional, James publicly explained himself.

In the post-game interview, James clarified “I saw his comments today and he felt it was intentional or wasn’t an accident. The actual chop down was on purpose to get his arm off me, that part was on purpose, but the point of my hand hitting his face was not on purpose. You can literally go through numerous plays in the NBA where guys were chopping down on guys’ arms or hands trying to get off of them. If you look at the play closely, he kind of got off balance when I chopped him down and that’s how his head went into my hand. So, it wasn’t intentional at all. I’ve never been that play, I’ve never ever tried to seek a face contact like that…”

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After the game, the two players weren’t spared from suspensions by league officials. Surprisingly, this was James’ first suspension in his decorated  career of 1,583 games at the age of 36.

Serge Ibaka and Marquese Chriss (2019)

Serge Ibaka is tough as nails, which is why he’s one of the best defensive centers in the league. Unfortunately, his toughness went out-of-hand in a Raptors game against the Cavaliers. On March 12, 2019, Ibaka and Marquese Chriss threw punches at one another. With the third quarter concluding, Ibaka failed to catch a full-court pass that saw the one-time NBA champion hit the deck. However, it was the words of Chriss that flared up Ibaka’s emotions, which led to a fist-fight. Fortunately, their punches failed to connect.

But despite their punches failing to connect, the players couldn’t avoid suspensions and fines. Chriss was slapped with a $22,000 penalty. However, Ibaka would receive a heavier punishment, given that he was the instigator. He also had past incidents that saw him scuffle with James Johnson. Ibaka had to sit-out three games and paid a hefty fine of $448,000.

Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns (2019)

Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns have one of the best rivalries in the modern era. These two elite centers are simply more skilled than ever, and seeing them go head-to-head is a joy to watch. However, this rivalry escalated into an ugly on-court fight.

During the third quarter that saw the Timberwolves being blown out by the Sixers, Embiid and Kat started getting physical after the two were left scuffling in the backcourt. Players and coaches from both teams had to step-in to seperate the two big men.

Embiid has been notorious for trash-talking. He's no stranger in playing mind-games against his matchups including KAT which Embiid proclaimed after the game.

Embiid and KAT were both ejected from the game. However, their fight eventually spilled on to social media. Because of this, the league took immediate action by suspending both elite centers for two games.

Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo, Brandon Ingram (2018)

Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo are two of the best point guards of the game today. However, it would be safe to say these two aren’t friends. CP3 and Rondo have had a beef that goes as way back as 2008, when CP3 was selected over the newly crowned Celtics champion for the Olympic roster.

Since then, the two have been bitter about each other’s greatness. Unfortunately, tensions reached its peak in 2018, when the Lakers hosted the Rockets at Staples Center. Rondo and CP3 came to blows, after Brandon Ingram fouled James Harden and disrespected the referee.

The league deemed this incident as unacceptable behavior. Because of this, Ingram was suspended for four games, and had to forfeit $158,817 in salary. On the other hand, CP3 also had to suffer the consequences for throwing punches and poking Rondo. He had to miss two games and paid the heftiest fine among the three at $491,781. Rondo had to pay $186,206 for throwing punches and spitting at CP3’s face. He also had to miss three games.