The NBA has fined Cleveland Cavaliers guard Isaiah Thomas $20,000 for the karate chop he delivered to the throat of Minnesota Timberwolves' forward Andrew Wiggins on Monday night.
Thomas was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected after the play, which occurred with 6:47 remaining in the third quarter of Cleveland's 28-point loss.
After the game, Thomas explained to reporters that he has gotten a number of steals aggressively going for the ball the way he did against Wiggins, and that he apologized immediately after the incident took place.
Per USA Today,
"I've gotten numerous steals like that, going out like that," Thomas told reporters after the game. "It just happened I hit him in the throat. I apologized right away because I didn't mean to do that. I'm just glad he's all right. ... I went for the ball. I know anything around the head, especially if it looks bad, you're going to probably be thrown out. I just made sure he was good, made sure he knew I had no intention of trying to hurt him or hit him in the throat."
Isaiah Thomas is averaging 15 points and 3.3 assists in 19.7 minutes through three games so far this season.
The Cavs have lost six of their last nine games which puts them at 26-14 on the season and in third place in the Eastern Conference. They'll return to the court tomorrow night for a matchup against the second place Raptors in Toronto.