The NBA has handed a one-game suspension to rookie Atlanta Hawks guard Kingston Flemings for “deliberately elbowing” New Orleans Pelicans guard Bryce McGowens in the head, as announced by the league on Sunday.
The event occurred during the Pelicans’ victory over the Hawks with a score of 121-99 on Saturday. Flemings will be absent for Monday’s match against the Indiana Pacers and will not receive payment for this day.
The occurrence happened late into Saturday’s game as the Pelicans maintained a significant advantage.
Flemings struck McGowens twice within the same sequence
This is not the action that led to Flemings being suspended. As they both raced back up the court side by side, Flemings retaliated with an elbow to McGowens’ head, an act that clearly did not conform to any basketball play.
A confrontation broke out following the contact. Officials reviewed the incident and assessed a technical foul to Flemings, subsequently ejecting him from the game. At the time of the elbow incident, the Pelicans were leading 119-93 with just moments left in the game.
Flemings, aged 19, has participated in seven NBA games so far. He was picked by the Hawks with the No. 8 overall selection in the NBA Draft held in June, after an impressive freshman year at Houston.
In an average of 20.1 minutes of play per game, Flemings is recording 7.1 points, 4.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 0.9 steals, with shooting percentages of 47.6% from the field and 38.5% from three-point range.
