On Sunday, the Orlando Magic fell back to Earth with a road loss to the New York Knicks. The Magic got behind the eight ball early in this one, losing Franz Wagner to injury along the way, and ultimately came up short against a Knicks team they have already beaten twice this season.
One controversial moment occurred in this game when Knicks forward OG Anunoby had his shot attempt blocked and landed out of bounds, at which point Magic guard Desmond Bane took the ball and launched it at Anunoby on the ground, as opposed to starting a fast break for his team.
The puzzling decision led Bane to get a technical foul, and now, further punishment has been handed down from the league, as they announced that Bane would be fined $35,000 for the incident, per NBA Communications on X, formerly Twitter.
This isn't the first time that Bane has failed on the anger management front, as in an early November game against the Atlanta Hawks, he similarly launched the ball off Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu, and was subsequently tossed from the contest.
Bane usually profiled as a mild-mannered player during his career with the Memphis Grizzlies, so it's unclear what is causing these anger issues so far this season, especially considering that the Magic have been playing some improved basketball of late.
For the next few weeks, they'll have to soldier on without Franz Wagner, out with a high ankle sprain per Shams Charania of ESPN, but the team did recently get star Paolo Banchero back from an injury of his own.
In any case, the Magic will next take the floor on Tuesday evening for an NBA Cup game against the Miami Heat, the second time they will have hosted Miami in a span of five days. The winner will move on to Las Vegas.
