The National Basketball Association gave Patrick Beverley of the Los Angeles Lakers a three-game suspension on Thursday, two days after he was ejected for shoving Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns from behind.
The suspension will cost Beverley $268,966, or about 2.1 percent of his $13 million salary.
It’s the second time Beverley has been suspended for shoving someone from behind; the other came in the last game of the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2021 playoff run, when he struck Suns guard Chris Paul from the back and had to sit out the first game of the 2021-2022 season.
“The suspension was based in part on Beverley’s history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the NBA said in announcing the sanction.
Beverley was ejected with 3:55 left in the Lakers’ loss at Phoenix on Tuesday.
Devin Booker committed a flagrant foul against the Lakers’ Austin Reaves, who remained down on the floor briefly after the hit.
Ayton stepped toward Reaves when he was still down, and Beverley charged in to give Ayton a shove. Ayton and Beverley were both assessed technical fouls, and the Lakers playmaker was ejected.
