Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart is known for being one tough defender.
After providing his Celtics counterpart with an elbow to the mid section Wednesday evening, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid found this out the hard way.
Smart shoved Embiid to the court at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, leading to an ejection from a game Philly ultimately ended up winning.
For his troubles, the NBA has now fined Smart $50,000.
Given Smart’s $13 million annual salary, this isn’t going to hurt his bank account too much.
However, it is the NBA’s way of nipping this in the bud as the Association prepares for a playoff slate that could include Boston and Philadelphia squaring off.
The good news is that cooler heads prevailed. The bad news? Passion and emotion is taken to a whole new level during the playoffs.