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Kyrie Irving Makes Admirable Gesture to Mavs Teammates Ejected in Brawl vs. Suns

Now that's a good teammate!

Tim Capurso

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving reacts after a play during the first quarter against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center on December 27, 2024.
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving reacts after a play during the first quarter against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center on December 27, 2024. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

A fight broke out between Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic and Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall during the third quarter of Phoenix's 98-89 win over Dallas on Friday, resulting in ejections for Nurkic, Marshall and Mavericks big man P.J. Washington.

Seeing as both Nurkic and Marshall landed blows, and Washington forcibly shoved the Suns big man, it stands to reason that there will likely be fines assessed by the NBA to the trio for their roles in the brawl.

Well, Mavericks star guard Kyrie Irving is getting ahead of the league, as he admirably offered to pay the fines of both Marshall and Washington while speaking to reporters after the game, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

"I'll take care of his [Naji Marshall's] fines, whoever's watching ... P.J's [P.J. Washington] fines ... Throw that s--t under the rug, excuse my language."

Irving then joked that the Mavs-Suns brawl may have a silver lining for the NBA, which has encountered a bit of a ratings problem this season.

"It's part of basketball sometimes ... Maybe that's just the way we end 2024 when somebody actually swings in the NBA," Irving said. "Maybe that will help our ratings."

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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