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NBABy Alex Putterman on

Two days after earning an ejection for firing his mouthguard at a referee, Steph Curry’s punishment is in and… the former MVP will be opening his checkbook but will not be missing any action.

The NBA announced Monday it had fined Curry $50,000 while declining to suspend him.

Here’s how we got here: With 46 seconds left in a 111-101 Golden State Warriors loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Curry grew frustrated at a no-call on a drive to the basket and angrily hurled his mouthguard in the direction of a referee, while storming toward him.

Because you obviously cannot do that, Curry was promptly ejected from the game.

On Monday afternoon, the typically mild-mannered Curry told reporters he had “some regret about going overboard a little bit,” while also reiterating that he was not trying to hit the ref with the mouthguard, merely tossing it out of exasperation.

There has been much online debate in the past two days over whether Curry deserved a suspension for his mouthguard toss. On one hand, the whole outburst was somewhat menacing, and you can hardly imagine the reaction if it had been Rasheed Wallace or DeMarcus Cousin or Ron Artest instead of Curry. On the other hand, we’re talking about a plastic mouthguard. Even if Curry were trying to nail the ref in the head, it’s not like anyone would have been seriously hurt.

In the end, Curry got docked $50K, which is a pretty hefty sum. For a little context, Kyrie Irving was fined $25,000 for telling a taunting fan to “suck my dick.”

Anyway, Steph does not seem that tense about the whole thing. He’s too busy burying 40-foot shots from a sitting position while filming from his own phone.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

View all posts by Alex Putterman