Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been banned for five games for putting Minnesota Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert in a headlock.
Three players were ejected for fighting inside the first two minutes of Minnesota’s 104-101 win on Tuesday.
Green wrapped his arm around Gobert’s neck after Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels grabbed each others’ jerseys.
NBA vice-president Joe Dumars said Green was sanctioned without pay for “escalating an on-court altercation”.
Green, who will begin his suspension on Thursday when the Warriors host the Oklahoma City Thunder, was suspended for “forcibly grabbing” Gobert around the neck “in an unsportsmanlike and dangerous manner,” said Dumars.
Green was also ejected in the Warriors’ defeat by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday and suspended during the play-offs in April after stamping on the Sacramento Kings’ Domantas Sabonis.
The NBA said his disciplinary record helped determine the length of the ban.
“I do hope the league’s going to do whatever needs to be done because that’s just clown behaviour,” Gobert said after the incident, which took place in the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament.
Golden State’s Thompson and Minnesota’s McDaniels and Gobert, all of whom were ejected after one minute 43 seconds, have been fined $25,000 (£20,200) by the NBA.
The Warriors have lost four consecutive games and Green is averaging 8.8 points, 5.7 assists and 5.1 rebounds from nine games this season.
He will be eligible to return against the Sacramento Kings on 28 November.
In the regular NBA season, the Boston Celtics went top of the Eastern Conference with a 117-107 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers thanks to 29 points from Jayson Tatum and 27 from Derrick White.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker scored 39 points each as the Phoenix Suns triumphed 133-115 to end the Timberwolves’ seven-game winning run.
In the absence of injured two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard’s 37 points helped the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Toronto Raptors 128-112.
Domantas Sabonis scored 29 points, De’Aaron Fox 28 and Kevin Huerter 28 as the Sacramento Kings claimed a 125-110 win over the LA Lakers, for whom LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell contributed 28 apiece.
Tim Hardaway Jr registered 31 points and Luka Doncic 26 to help the Dallas Mavericks beat the Washington Wizards 130-117.
