The NBA has suspended Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart for three games for "throwing a punch that made contact with the face" of Golden State Warriors big man Charles Bassey, the league announced on Thursday.
The incident came late in the third quarter of Wednesday night's game in Houston. After Smart and Bassey got tangled up on the other end of the floor, Smart chased Bassey down and threw a punch at his head area. They were quickly broken up from there, and Smart was eventually ejected from the game with a flagrant-2 foul. Despite his absence, the Rockets went on to win the game, 115-108.
MARCUS SMART PUNCHES CHARLES BASSEY 😳 pic.twitter.com/MUsLlDHCz4
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 12, 2026
What triggered the incident? "I just talked to [Smart]. He said they got wrapped up, and [Smart]'s elbow that he hurt got bent up," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said after the game. "So, [Smart] said something to him. Bassey said, 'What are you going to do?' And he did it."
Bassey, on the other hand, blamed Smart for what happened. "He's been playing dirty the whole game," the Warriors big man said. "In the first half, I was trying to set a screen and he grabbed my knee. So I mean, he was playing dirty. [On the play in question], I think I was trying to get a rebound and he was grabbing my hand and I was trying to run back on defense. ... And then he got up on me and swung. Obviously that was weak. I think that was, honestly, fake toughness."
Charles Bassey on Marcus Smart throwing a punch at him: “Fake toughness.”
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 12, 2026
“I don’t think he was trying to play. I think he was trying to get himself out of the game.” pic.twitter.com/ZxbgvUDeY9
As for what sort of words were exchanged between Smart and Bassey? "He said something to me," Bassey explained. "He said something like, 'Hey, don't do that.' I said, 'Do what?' It's a grown-man's league."
Smart is no stranger to NBA discipline. He has 12 ejections, nine fines (excluding flopping and technical foul fines) and two suspensions across his 13-year career. Now, the 9-3 Rockets will be without a key guard for the next three games, but fortunately for them, their next three opponents are all below .500: the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat.
