Miami Heat guard Josh Richardson, left, Los Angeles Lakers center JaVale McGee, center, and Heat center Hassan Whiteside are unable to come up with a rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018, in Miami. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
MIAMI — Josh Richardson’s shoe toss was predictably costly.
The NBA fined the Miami Heat guard $25,000 on Monday, one day after he threw one of his sneakers several rows into the stands midway through the fourth quarter of a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Richardson was ejected as part of that outburst, which started after he thought he got fouled moments earlier and nothing was called. It was a frustrating night in many respects for the Heat, who lost 113-97 and fell to 6-10 on the season.
“I can’t really do anything about it at this point,” said Richardson, who spoke with NBA officials by phone earlier Monday to give his side of the story before the discipline was meted out. “I’m just going to learn from it and go forward.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra lauded Richardson’s competitiveness but did not give him a pass for throwing something into the crowd — and stressed that things have to start changing for Miami soon. The Heat play host to Brooklyn on Tuesday night.
“There’s some behavior that’s unacceptable,” Spoelstra said. “Throwing something into the stands, no matter how you look at it, is unacceptable. The competitive frustration right now, everybody should be feeling that. This should not be something that’s just deemed OK. It’s not. And we have to change it.”
Richardson is Miami’s leading scorer this season, averaging 20.1 points through the season’s first 16 games.
Also Monday, the Heat revealed that point guard Goran Dragic had fluid drained from his right knee and is expected to miss the next three games, including a two-game trip to Chicago and Toronto. Dragic may be able to return Nov. 27 when Miami plays host to Atlanta.
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