MILWAUKEE (AP) — The NBA has disciplined the Brooklyn Nets
security guard who went on the Fiserv Forum court and appeared to
shove P.J. Tucker during a confrontation between the Milwaukee
forward and Nets star Kevin Durant on Thursday night.
NBA officials said the security guard wouldn’t be assigned to
any of the remaining games in Milwaukee during the second-round
playoff series between the Bucks and Nets. He won’t be assigned to
the court area for the second-round games in Brooklyn.
Although NBA officials didn’t provide the name of the security
guard, a person with knowledge of the situation identified him as
Antjuan Lambert. Another person with knowledge of the situation
said the security guard was Durant’s personal security guy before
being hired by the Nets.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity because those details weren’t announced. The Athletic
first reported Lambert’s name.
The situation stems from an incident that occurred in the third
quarter of the
Bucks’ 86-83 Game 3 victory.
Tucker appeared to be complaining after getting called for fouling
Durant. Tucker and Durant then started jawing at each other as they
got face to face. The security guard went on the court during
this confrontation and put his hands on Tucker.
Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer said Saturday that he wasn’t
aware of the Bucks contacting the league to look into the matter,
but he added that he didn’t think it would be right for a security
guard to put his hands on a player.
“If it’s a Nets security guy and he’s bumping our player and
things like that, it doesn’t seem like that’s the protocol, and
that’s kind of what we would expect from any type of security,
whether it be Bucks or Nets or Fiserv or Barclay’s Center or
wherever you may be playing,” Budenholzer said. “I don’t think you
want to bump and escalate things.”
The Nets lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday in
Milwaukee.
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AP Pro Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in New York contributed
to this report.
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