Grizzlies’ Brooks insists hit was ‘unintentional’ after $35,000 NBA fine for shoving Heat cameraman – The Mercury News

Following a $35,000 fine for what the NBA deemed “the unsportsmanlike act of shoving a cameraman” during Wednesday night’s loss to the Miami Heat at Miami-Dade Arena, Memphis Grizzlies point guard Dillon Brooks said that the act was unintentional.

Addressing the incident for the first time when the Grizzlies hosted the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, Brooks said he planned to get in touch with the cameraman who is a constant presence at Heat home games, working as an independent contractor for Bally Sports.

“It wasn’t intentional,” Brooks said of the incident that looked different as he struggled unsuccessfully on the half-court sideline to keep the ball from going out of bounds. “I was running at full speed. I didn’t want to hurt him in any way possible. I’m not that kind of person.

“I’ll call him tomorrow to see how he’s doing.”

Brooks did not mention whether he would appeal the fine. Brooks, 27, is in the final year of a three-year, $35 million deal, which pays $11.4 million this season.

“But, you know, it’s a bad situation,” Brooks said, “and whatever the NBA did is what they did. But I’m not that kind of person. I play the hard game.

The Heat’s next home game is Wednesday night at Miami-Dade Arena against the New York Knicks after completing a two-game road trip on Sunday night against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.

Incident cameraman Terry Swann declined to comment for the Sun Sentinel. A spokesman for Bally Sports declined to comment on the incident.

Following the NBA fine, Heat broadcaster Jason Jackson posted a reprimand of Brooks on Twitter.

“I rarely comment on these things,” Jackson posted, “BUT this one is personal. Our veteran camera operator @BallyHeat was injured and remains under evaluation.

“The fine was right, but the maximum would have felt like a sliver of justice after disrespect for another human – an incredible one at that.”

Brooks’ game came with 2:40 left in the second quarter in what turned into a 138-119 Grizzlies loss.

defensive slip

After the Heat’s drop in the NBA’s defensive rankings since the All-Star break, head coach Erik Spoelstra said it’s the detail, not the people, that’s missing.

“We’re going to strengthen all of this,” he said before the Pistons game. “That’s it. We’re going to strengthen him. We’re capable of being much better defensively.

“It’s the same guys, the same people. I mean, we had a top four save before the All-Star break. It’s expensive when we don’t defend with that kind of effort like we did in the second half. [of Saturday night’s loss to the Chicago Bulls].”

The Heat’s main rotational change since the All-Star break was to insert deadline buy Kevin Love into the starting lineup and move Caleb Martin to the bench.

quality competition

After the loss in Chicago, the Heat downplayed their lack of focus against teams with losing records.

“I think it’s the NBA, like a league. We have good teams,” said striker Jimmy Butler. “You can’t always look at somebody’s record and go, ‘Wow, this team should beat that.’

“You can be beaten by anyone on any given night and we’ve shown that this has happened to us all year round. But what can we do about it now? We will try to win as many games as we can going forward.”

Butler said there is no arrogance involved.

“I don’t think we’re better than anyone else,” he said. “I think we have to compete in this, and when we deserve to win, we will win. If we don’t deserve to win, we won’t win.”

Guard Max Strus said it’s a matter of focus.

“At the end of the day,” he said. “It’s the NBA and everyone is talented. Everybody’s a good team when they’re making shots.”

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