In the midst of a storm of on-court conflicts after the midway part of the season, it's been reported that Houston Rockets center Clint Capela wasn't involved in Monday night's locker room brouhaha — instead, it was backup center Tarik Black who tried to infiltrate the home locker room, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Hearing strongly today that Clint Capela was not the Rocket who appeared at the Clippers' locker room doorway Monday night … belief now is that it was Tarik Black and not in any sort of diversionary tactic
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 17, 2018
The entire situation between the L.A. Clippers and the Rockets is a complicated and weird one to dissect. The whole charade began when Blake Griffin allegedly made contact with Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni.
Then, the Rockets players were upset when Austin Rivers began barking insults from the sidelines. Both teams hurled insults at one another even after the Clippers won the game 113-102.
Apparently, these comments didn't sit too well with the Rockets, who wanted to have a second round of talking things out after the game, using a secret tunnel to access the Clippers' locker room.
The NBA appears to be ushering in a new state of violence this year.
In this season alone, there were two instances of players throwing punches at one another. There have also been two cases of players meeting after games to discuss extracurricular activities.
The NBA will likely give strict punishments to all who engaged in this senseless action, regardless of who facilitated the encounter in the locker room. Both of these teams are still trying to climb the standings in the Western Conference this season, and both await a ruling in the days to come once the investigation concludes.
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