Sure, longtime theoretical opponents Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao chatting at Tuesday's Miami Heat-Milwaukee Bucks game is a pretty big deal, I guess. But if you really want to see a fight, you should've been watching the D-League contest between the Iowa Energy and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. That's where the real scrapping went down — between two members of the same team.
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Here's a from-the-opposing-sideline view of Jarnell Stokes and Kalin Lucas — teammates on the Energy, the Memphis Grizzlies' D-League affiliate — going after one another on the bench during a timeout on Tuesday night:
And here's a closer look, which offers a better indication of just how heated things got than a vantage point that had me focusing more on the late-reacting officials and the meandering mascot:
It remains unclear what exactly sparked the altercation. One thing that is clear: both men were ejected from the game. One that seems clear: it probably was something a bit more serious than a Pitt the Elder/Lord Palmerston type of disagreement if it led Lucas — a 6-foot, 195-pound point guard — to decide it was a good idea to throw hands with the 6-foot-8, 260-plus-pound Stokes. (And considering the Grizzlies spent a second-round pick on Stokes this summer with an eye toward a potential frontcourt role in the future, while giving Lucas — who isn't under contract with the Grizz — just the merest look-see after spending the bulk of the last four years overseas and in the D-League, this might not have been the wisest career move for the Michigan State product.)
The game was delayed while some blood was cleaned up on the bench — the broadcast's announcers said it might have been Lucas who got cut, which, again, makes some sense given the size differential — and the Energy is reportedly "working with the [D-League] to investigate the incident," so we might get more details on this in the days to come. Energy owner Jed Kaplan told the Des Moines Register on Wednesday that "any suspensions or disciplinary action would be determined by either the NBA or the D-League."
Despite losing both Lucas (who had 18 points, five rebounds and five assists at the time of the fight) and Stokes (who'd added 16 points, eight boards and a pair of steals), Iowa went on to win 124-120 behind 30 points from former Louisville star Russ Smith. Nobody punched him.
Hat-tip to The Big Lead.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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