Chris Paul says he'll pay Gerald Green's potential fine for shove against Wolves
There's a lot of fighting in hockey, but fans will tell you that it actually makes the game less violent. It sounds weird, but the fighting prevents dirty plays from happening -- players know that if they lay a cheap shot on a star player, they'll have to reckon with the enforcer.
The same is true, to a much smaller extent, in the NBA, and we saw the unwritten rule in effect in the Houston Rockets' 129-120 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. While going after a loose ball, Wolves forward Gorgui Dieng appeared to unnecessarily shove Rockets point guard Chris Paul to the ground. Houston's Gerald Green saw what happened and immediately made a beeline for Dieng, shoving him into the stands to protect his leader.
Dieng threw Chris Paul out of the club, Gerald Green didn't like it 😂 pic.twitter.com/uraO23jXzh — Dime on UPROXX (@DimeUPROXX) March 19, 2018
Green was ejected from the game, and will likely draw a fine for his actions -- Suns forwards Jared Dudley and Marquese Chriss were fined $25,000 apiece for recent shoving incidents -- but the money isn't going to come out of Green's bank account. Paul was so honored that Green came to his defense, that he has offered to pay any fine that Green should receive.
Chris Paul, by the way, said he would pick up any fine that comes Green's way for the incident. https://t.co/Z7Ssk26BNo — Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) March 19, 2018
Rockets team chemistry is clearly at an all-time high given how well they're playing, and gestures like this only serve to strengthen it.