Naji Marshall amplifies swing at Suns' $18,125,000 center with X cover image update
Following their on-court altercation on Friday, Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall amplified his swing at Phoenix Suns' center, Jusuf Nurkic, with his cover image update on X, formerly Twitter. Marshall updated his cover image to display a moment from the altercation which featured him throwing a punch at Nurkic.
This comes as fuel to the fire after Marshall and Nurkic were both ejected for their fight with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter of their matchup on Friday.
The incident began when Nurkic was called for an offensive foul after he elbowed Daniel Gafford on a post-up and bumped Kyrie Irving. The Suns' center then exchanged words with Marshall, which quickly escalated as Nurkic took a swing, prompting Marshall to respond with a punch.
Upon review of the incident, the Mavericks' P.J. Washington was also ejected from the game for shoving Nurkic to the ground amidst the altercation.
The game concluded in a 98-89 road win for the Mavericks. Marshall recorded four points, three rebounds and two assists before being ejected while Nurkic had three points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block.
Kevin Durant on his teammate's on-court fight with Naji Marshall
Following the fight between Naji Marshall and Jusuf Nurkic during Friday's matchup, Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant gave his take on the incident:
"You hate to see that in this game," Durant said. "Guys are going to get suspended maybe and lose a lot of money doing that. But that's what happens when you compete sometimes. Tempers flare up a little bit and you go overboard. And then on the other side, you try and protect yourself, as well."
The coaches of both teams also touched on the altercation after the game:
"Just protecting each other -- that's what that was," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. "Emotions can get high, so our guys protect one another. We talk about it and it was displayed tonight."
"I think that level of altercation is not good for our team, it's not good for anybody individually, it's not good for our league," Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said. "I don't know all the details of how it got to that point."
In Devin Booker's absence, Kevin Durant scored 35 points, but it was still not enough to secure a victory over the Mavericks, who were also disadvantaged by the absence of their star player, Luka Doncic.