New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby, left, and Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane, right, get into an altercation during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in New York
New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby, left, and Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane, right, get into an altercation during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in New York
Magic guard Desmond Bane was fined $35,000 by the NBA, the league announced on Monday, Dec. 8
The former Memphis Grizzlies star spiked the ball at New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby during a game on Sunday, Dec. 7
Anunoby shoved Bane but they were later seen laughing off the unusual play
Desmond Bane’s dodgeball-like throw at a New York Knicks player during Sunday’s game resulted in head-scratching — and a hefty fine.
The NBA announced on Monday, Dec. 8 that the Orlando Magic guard has been fined $35,000 for “throwing the game ball with force at an opponent in an unsportsmanlike manner” at the Knicks’ OG Anunoby.
The incident happened with 6:13 remaining in the fourth quarter of the game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Dec. 7.
In footage from the play, Anunoby is seen on a breakaway when Bane and Magic guard Jalen Suggs converged on him and knocked the ball out of his hands.
As Anunoby fell, Bane spiked the ball directly at him, hitting his back, as if to direct it out of bounds off the Knicks forward.
Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane, center left, and New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby, center right, talk after an NBA basketball game Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in New York.
Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane, center left, and New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby, center right, talk after an NBA basketball game Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in New York.
“Normally it’s kinda like you’re off balance … but he wound up like he's Nolan Ryan,” Knicks play-by-play announcer Mike Breen joked about Bane’s channeling of the baseball Hall of Fame pitcher.
After the play, Anunoby shoved the former Memphis Grizzlies player before the two were restrained by teammates. Later, the Knicks forward and the Magic star were seen laughing off the strange moment.
Bane, 27, was assessed a technical foul for his role in the incident, the league said.
The TCU alum — who was selected the 30th and last pick of the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft — is adjusting to life in Orlando after he was traded from Memphis over the summer in a blockbuster deal which sent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony and four first-round draft picks to the Grizzlies.
Bane signed a five-year, $207 million max extension with Grizzlies just two years prior in July 2023.
For the Richmond, Ind. native, it’s not the first time this season that he has tried such a strategy in a game.
When the Magic played Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 4, Bane was ejected after he fired the ball at the Hawks’ Onyeka Okongwu.
The father of two was ejected from the game for the play, according to ESPN.