Lakers guard Marcus Smart has been fined $35K for “making an obscene gesture toward a game official,” the NBA announced on Saturday (via Twitter).
Smart was penalized for giving the middle finger to a ref at halftime during Thursday’s win in Utah, tweets Dan Woike of The Athletic. Smart was assessed a technical foul for the incident, notes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Through 17 games in his first season with Los Angeles, Smart is averaging 10.6 points, 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 27.2 minutes per contest. His shooting slash line is .431/.330/.917.
While those numbers don’t jump off the page, the Lakers have been far better when Smart is on the court (+8.5 per 100 possessions) than when he’s not playing (-2.8), particularly on the defensive end.
Smart signed a two-year, $10.5MM contract with the Lakers over the summer after reaching a buyout with Washington. The Wizards are carrying $14.8MM in dead money on their books in 2025/26 as a result of that agreement.