The NBA fined Hornets forward Miles Bridges $50,000 for throwing his mouthpiece into the stands inside State Farm Arena on Wednesday during Charlotte’s play-in game loss to the Hawks.
With the Hornets trailing big in the fourth quarter, Bridges picked up a technical foul and was ejected from the game after arguing with a referee. As Bridges walked off the court through the tunnel, he turned and threw his mouthguard at a taunting fan. However, his mouthpiece did not hit the taunting fan and instead struck the left shoulder of a young female fan before deflecting off her face.
During the postgame news conference, Bridges apologized and took “full responsibility” for his behavior.
“I was aiming for the guy that was screaming at me and it hit a little girl,” Bridges said. “So that’s definitely unacceptable on my part and I take full responsibility.
“That’s out of character for me. ... So that was definitely wrong, a lot of emotions and hopefully I can get in contact with the young girl and sincerely apologize to her and do something nice for her, but that’s definitely on me.”
Atlanta defeated Charlotte, 132–103, to secure a spot in the final play-in game. Bridges finished with 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting in 30 minutes of action.
