Markieff Morris said he simply was playing catch. To the NBA, it was a case of snatch and grab by the veteran Miami Heat forward.
Ultimately, it turned into a $25,000 fine by the NBA “for interfering with live game play while on the bench, in violation of league rules.”
Ahead of the Heat’s Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Morris offered his take to the South Florida Sun Sentinel about the incident that occurred during the third quarter of last week’s series-clinching first-round victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
On the play in question, De’Andre Hunter had stumbled into the Heat bench, with the NBA ruling that Morris, not in the game at the time, restrained the Hawks forward from returning to the court.
“It was just like in the flow of the game,” Morris said of attempting to break Hunter’s fall.
The league ruled otherwise.
“Next time, I’ll just let him fall. I guess that’s what it is,” Morris said. “I’ll just get out of the way and let him fall, even though I know DeAndre, too.
“He came with a lot of force, too. He hit me hard. But next time I just got to let him fall.”
Morris said that is why he was surprised the sanction was so severe.
“I’ll tell everyone, ‘Let ‘em fall if they come to the bench,’ ” Morris said of potentially winding up in a similar situation. “I guess it is what it is.”
The technical foul was Morris’ lone statistic of the first round, not seeing action in the series. The only other available Heat player not to play in the first round was veteran team captain Udonis Haslem.
Morris said he told coach Erik Spoelstra of his restraining of order as action continued, with Hunter initially called for being out of bounds when he touched the ball while attempting to return to the court.
“When I looked at it and then he jumped back, I was like, ‘Oh, they might call me,’ ” Morris said. “I told Coach that they might say I did it. But they’ll fine me for blinking my eyes nowadays. I don’t know.”
Morris earlier this season was fined $50,000 for a Nov. 8 flagrant foul against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic on a play that Jokic responded with a shove so hard that it contributed to Morris missing 58 games due to a neck injury.
Morris said he does not plan to appeal the latest fine.
“I already made a bunch of money,” he said, having earned nearly $50 million over his NBA career, even while playing for the NBA minimum this season. “I ain’t worried about that little-bitty-ass money.”
The Heat won the game against the Hawks 97-94.
Morris said he never worried about the point for his technical foul making a difference.
“Nah,” he said. “I didn’t think we needed the point.”
And, no, Morris said teammates did not question him in the moment or afterward.
“You think somebody’s going to say, ‘What the heck’ to me?” the intense power forward said, dripping sweat after a workout on the team’s practice court. “That’s how I felt. This is my 12th year. I’ll take it on the chin. Ain’t nobody going to pay that damn fine but me.
“All right then. Then you ain’t saying nothing.”
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