NBA suspends Marcus Smart 3 games without pay for punch to Bassey's face

The NBA suspended Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart for three games without pay Thursday after his punch made contact with Golden State's Charles Bassey's face.

James Jones, the league's executive vice president and head of basketball operations, who oversees player discipline, announced the penalty. Smart will lose roughly $125,500 in salary, according to The Associated Press.

The NBA is suspending Houston’s Marcus Smart for three games “for throwing a punch that made contact with the face” of Golden State’s Charles Bassey.

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 12, 2026

Bassey, a Warriors forward-center, said after the game that Smart "got up on me and just swung" and described the punch as weak. "I just think that was, honestly, fake toughness," Bassey said.

Charles Bassey on Marcus Smart throwing a punch at him: “Fake toughness.”

“I don’t think he was trying to play. I think he was trying to get himself out of the game.”

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 12, 2026

Bassey said Smart had been "playing dirty the whole game" and accused him of grabbing his knee as he tried to set a screen in the first half. He said he was not surprised by the punch and believed Smart wanted to leave the game rather than play.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka said he had just spoken with Smart. "He said they got wrapped up, and [Smart]'s elbow that he hurt got bent up," Udoka said.

Udoka said Bassey asked Smart, "What you gonna do?" Smart responded by throwing the punch, Udoka said.

Bassey gave his account of the words exchanged before the punch, saying Smart told him something like "Hey, don't do that" and that he asked what Smart meant. "It's a grown-man's league," Bassey said.

The confrontation followed a transition basket by Rockets guard Amen Thompson that increased Houston's lead with 21 seconds remaining in the third quarter Wednesday at Toyota Center, ESPN reported. Smart and Bassey exchanged words face to face while Warriors forward Yaxel Lendeborg tried to get between them.

With referee Mitchell Ervin in front of them, Smart threw a right hook that grazed Bassey's nose as Bassey stepped back to avoid it. Thompson, Golden State's Gui Santos and Brandin Podziemski, and referee Brandon Adair quickly separated the players.

Officials called a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected Smart. Ervin, the referee crew chief, said they reviewed the play and cited "contact to the nose" for the call. A Flagrant 2 results in an automatic ejection, followed by a league office review.

Houston won 115-108 and is 9-3.

Smart signed with the Rockets as a free agent over the summer. Before the latest suspension, he had 12 career ejections and two suspensions, according to CBS Sports.

Each previous suspension lasted one game. In 2015, while playing for Boston, Smart was suspended for hitting San Antonio's Matt Bonner in the groin. In 2021, he received a suspension for directing threatening language toward a game official.

The league fined Smart $50,000 in 2019 for shoving Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, citing "his repeated acts of unsportsmanlike conduct during NBA games."

It was not immediately known whether Smart or the players' union would appeal.

Smart will begin serving the suspension Friday against the Utah Jazz at Toyota Center, then miss road games at Washington on Sunday and Miami on Monday. All three opponents have records below .500.

Houston could also play one of those road games without starting point guard Fred VanVleet. The Rockets are resting him for one half of back-to-backs while he recovers from a torn ACL, Yahoo Sports reported.