Brittney Griner and Rickea Jackson Fired After Sparks-Mercury Feud
Tuesday night was supposed to be a celebration for the Los Angeles Sparks, their fan appreciation night on the final home game of the regular season. It was also a chance for the Southern California crowd to honor one of their own, as Phoenix Mercury legend Diana Taurasi played her final professional game in Los Angeles.
Instead, the game was marred by an altercation between Sparks rookie Rickea Jackson and Mercury star Brittney Griner, with both ejections with 18.8 seconds left in the first half after a conversation between the two escalated in front of the Phoenix bench following a free throw box out.
Security personnel rushed onto the court, as did Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts, to separate the players. However, a confrontation between Sophie Cunningham and Crystal Dangerfield also resulted in technical fouls for the two.
LA was up seven points at the time of the ejection and went into halftime with an eight-point lead. However, Phoenix threw the game into disarray after halftime, pressuring the entire court and reverting to a zone defense that frustrated the Sparks until a 10-point third quarter. The Mercury eventually won 85-81.
The WNBA rulebook states: “During an altercation, all players not participating in the game must remain in the immediate vicinity of their bench. Violators will be suspended, without pay, for a minimum of one game and fined. Such suspension will take effect prior to the start of the player’s next game.”
Phoenix’s coaching staff appeared to have successfully prevented bench players from interfering in the incident. Regardless, a one-game suspension wouldn’t do much harm to the Mercury, who have one game remaining in the regular season and are locked into seventh place for the playoffs.
Of greater concern is Griner’s future availability. The Phoenix center entered the game with four technical fouls, so she hasn’t yet reached the automatic suspension total of seven. However, the league could determine that the altercation with Jackson warrants more discipline. Griner was previously suspended three games for a near-arguing in 2019. What happened with Jackson shouldn’t rise to that level, but that’s up to the WNBA to decide.
“No clear explanation (from the officials),” Tibbetts said when asked about the post-game commotion. “I haven’t watched the video or anything, so we’ll see.”
Phoenix closes out the regular season at home against Seattle on Thursday before traveling to Minnesota for the first round of the playoffs. Los Angeles closes out the season against Minnesota on Thursday and hopes to welcome back Jackson to cap off what has undoubtedly been a full rookie campaign.
Required reading
(Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
