An awful 2015-2016 season for the Phoenix Suns lowered to another level of embarrassing on Wednesday night, when teammates Markieff Morris and Archie Goodwin got into a scuffle on the team’s bench during their 112-104 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
In this screenshot of the physical altercation, it appears that Morris may be choking Goodwin:
Markieff Morris choking Archie Goodwin on the bench vs Warriors game pic.twitter.com/xewK2AALen
— Three 6 Latvia (@Imf187) February 11, 2016
Now, to be fair, perhaps that’s just a perfectly timed screenshot that makes the incident look worse than it was in real time.
After the game, Suns interim head coach Earl Watson addressed the incident, saying that Morris and Goodwin are “the closest on the team”:
“I wouldn’t say it was a fight, it was a pushing match,” coach on Keef/Goodwin. “Those 2 are the closest on the team. They’re like family.” — #WeArePHX (@Suns) February 11, 2016
And postgame quotes from Morris and Goodwin:
Morris, “Big brothers shake little brothers up sometimes, it happens…nothing I do is going to look good” #SunsVsWarriors
— Craig Grialou (@CraigAZSports) February 11, 2016
Goodwin, “We family. It happens. I love him like a brother. Just one of those situations.” #SunsVsWarriors
— Craig Grialou (@CraigAZSports) February 11, 2016
So, it looks like everything is now okay between Morris and Goodwin, which is good news at least.
But everything about Wednesday night’s game really summarizes how things are going for the Suns and Warriors this season. The Suns get another loss to fall to 14-40, and have their players fighting each other on the bench. The Warriors get another win, and have the best start in NBA history through 52 games, at 48-4.