Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray is now a little lighter in the pocket. On Wednesday, the NBA announced that Murray had been fined $25,000 for striking Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr. in the groin area during the game between the Nuggets and Mavericks on Monday night.
From the NBA:
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray has been fined $25,000 for striking Dallas Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. in the groin area, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident, for which Murray received a Flagrant Foul 2 and was ejected, occurred with 4:51 remaining in the third quarter of the Nuggets’ 117-113 victory over the Mavericks on Jan. 25 at American Airlines Center.
The play came in the third quarter. Tim Hardaway Jr. had just made a tip shot and was guarding Murray on the other end. Murray ran into Hardaway and fell to the ground. When he got back up, he appeared to hit Hardaway in the groin and was quickly ejected. The referees defined the flagrant-2 foul as being “unnecessary and excessive contact” to Hardaway’s groin.
Prior to the ejection, Murray was having one of his best games of the season. He made seven of his first 11 shots for 16 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists as his Nuggets built a seven-point lead against the Mavs before the ejection occurred. Denver managed to hang on for the wing against Dallas, but the story of the game was Murray’s ejection. While players occasionally get hit in that area inadvertently, rarely do you see a flagrant-2 call assessed for such a play. The closest major moment that comes to mind is Draymond Green hitting LeBron James in the groin during Game 4 of the 2016 NBA Finals. That play was only called a flagrant-1, though, and Green was only suspended because he had accumulated so many flagrant fouls that it was mandatory.
Murray wasn’t suspended for this play, but it will remain one of the more infamous moments of his young career. Shots to the groin are rare, and that makes them memorable.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
