Phoenix Suns: P.J. Tucker Suspension Part of the Package
The NBA has announced the P.J. Tucker suspension for throwing an elbow at Blake Griffin in the Phoenix Suns 112-105 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on March 10. He will be suspended for one game, without pay, to be served Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
While I’m not going to condone this kind of behavior, there are a lot of positives that can come out of it. Here’s some video of the scrum:
You can see that Tucker was obviously in the wrong, as they got tied up and instead of breaking it up cleanly, Tucker decided to escalate the situation by throwing an elbow towards Griffin.
It’s that kind of attitude that makes Tucker what he is. He isn’t the most talented guy on the floor and he’ll never be considered in the upper echelon of NBA players, but he’s a spark plug. He won the team’s hustle award (named after former player Dan Majerle) last year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win it again this season.
He’s the first to hit the floor and the first to come to the aid of his teammates. That kind of attitude does hurt him at times, as the club certainly could have used him down the stretch against the Clippers. With the lowly Cavs coming to town, it’s as good a time as any for him to serve his suspension.
Tucker is who he is. He’s a bulldog, a scrapper and a guy that 29 other clubs would love to have on their roster. Will his passion and energy work against him from time to time? Yes, but it’s definitely worth it.