Just yesterday I blogged about how maybe Joe Mazzulla had a point when he said the NBA should bring back fighting. A nice little dust up between Naji Marshall and Nusuf Nurkic that actually included real punches being thrown, it really did feel like Mazzulla was onto something when he said that back in October.

Well, here we are again tonight with another dust up on our hands, this time involving Tyler Herro and Amen Thompson

I mean, it didn’t have the full on swings like the fight the other night but god damn. Amen Thompson tossed Tyler Herro like he was a child. There wasn’t even really a flop there by Herro, he just got rag dolled. Good on him I guess for getting right back up and getting into Thompson’s face, but that did feel a little bit “HOLLLDDD MMEEEEE BACCCCKK”-ish for my liking. There’s a reason nobody really got in Herro’s way, they knew he wasn’t going to come back swinging. It’s not the best optics that everyone is in the skirmish and you’re just kind of standing there

so I guess technically you have to deduct some points from his overall scorecard. Then again, Herro did have the last laugh with 27/6/9 and a +13 in the 4 point Heat road win

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so at least he can focus on that instead of how the entire internet is roasting the hell out of him for getting thrown around like that. One part of that fight that I personally enjoyed was Terry Rozier. That’s a guy who is DEFINITELY readyto scrap at all times and he’s definitely a guy you want in your bunker when it’s time to go to war. Terry Rozier does not give a single fuck and I will always love that about him.

But really, this just goes back to Joe Mazzulla’s larger point. Perhaps bringing back fighting isn’t the worst idea? Admit it, these last two fights have been entertaining as hell. If you want people to watch, give them the possibility that shit is going to go down at any moment. Beefs, fights, and hatred are what we need more of in the NBA, not less. You know there have to be plenty of fellow NBA players who would have loved to punch Tyler Herro in the face or throw him to the ground like that, so maybe Amen was speaking for everyone in that moment. 

For all the talk about what’s wrong with the NBA and what they need to do to fix things, maybe the answer like most things in life is to simply listen to Psycho Joe. Give us even more fights and more drama and we’ll be right back to the 90s just like everyone suddenly wants.