Ajay Mitchell, Justin Champagnie Each Suspended 1 Game Without Pay For Fighting In Thunder-wizards Matchup

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell and Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie each received one-game suspensions from the NBA for their roles in Saturday’s brawl between the two teams.

The league announced the penalties on Sunday. In addition to the suspensions, Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams and Cason Wallace were fined $35,000, while Washington’s Anthony Gill was docked the same amount.

[Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season]

The on-court altercation ignited with 27 seconds left in the second quarter when Champagnie and Williams shoved each other under the basket. Several players from each team subsequently joined the scuffle, including Mitchell, who was near the two players on the baseline.

The tangle of players quickly involved a cameraman, who was positioned near the basket stanchion and got knocked over. The melee eventually spilled among fans sitting in the rows behind the basket.

Gill and Wallace joined the fracas, and Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pulled Mitchell from the mass of bodies tussling.

“I’ve never seen him like that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said about Mitchell after the game, via The Athletic. “But at the same time, I’m not really surprised by his reaction… He’s as tough as they come, so I knew there’d be no back down when he’s involved in anything.”

After the incident calmed down, Champagnie and Williams were both assessed double technical fouls and removed from the game. Mitchell and Wallace received single technicals and were also ejected “for not acting as peacemakers and escalating the altercation,” as crew chief John Goble explained to a pool reporter after the game.

Gill stayed in the game because he didn’t demonstrate any unsportsmanlike conduct that warranted an ejection, according to Goble.

Following the game, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault told reporters that he disagreed with three of his players being ejected from the game while only one Wizards player was tossed out.

“I disagreed with their judgement after talking to them and watching it at halftime, Daigneault said. “I’ve worked with John Goble a long time, and he worked through it with me. We ended up agreeing to disagree and both moved on.”

The Thunder eventually won, 132-111, earning their 11th straight victory and boosting their NBA-best record to 56-15. The Wizards lost their 15th consecutive game with the defeat, competing for the league’s worst record at 16-54 as they pursue the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery.

Oklahoma City continues its Eastern road trip on Monday at the Philadelphia 76ers. Washington plays Sunday night, visiting the New York Knicks.