The NBA on Thursday fined Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges $50,000 for throwing his mouthpiece, which struck a young fan in Atlanta.
Bridges apologized for the outburst that happened during Charlotte's season-ending loss Wednesday night and said he expected the NBA to take action against him.
Bridges was ejected after picking up his second technical foul during the Atlanta Hawks' 132-103 victory in the NBA's Play-in Tournament.
As Bridges was led off the State Farm Arena floor, a man, seated in the second row and wearing a yellow hat, mockingly waved goodbye to the forward.
That's when Bridges angrily threw his mouthpiece in the man's direction, striking a teenage girl in the first row. The mouthpiece bounced off the left side of her head and she did not appear to be injured.
Bridges himself retweeted video of the incident and said he was at fault: "Somebody get me in contact with the young lady. That’s unacceptable."
A contrite Bridges told reporters after the game that he shouldn't have lashed out in frustration.
“I let my temper get the best of me,” Bridges said. “That was definitely the wrong thing to do by throwing my mouthpiece.”
“I was aiming for the guy that was screaming at me and it hit a little girl," he continued.
Bridges insisted Wednesday's outburst doesn't reflect his personality.
“That’s definitely unacceptable on my part, and I take full responsibility," he said. “That’s on me. That’s out of character for me. You’ve been around me. I don’t act like that or never flash out like that. So that was definitely wrong, a lot of emotions."
The 24-year-old Flint, Michigan native, concluded his fourth season in the NBA and averaged career-high averages in points, rebounds and assists per game, at 20.2, 7.0 and 3.8, respectively.
“Hopefully I can get in contact with the young girl and sincerely apologize to her and do something nice for her,” he said.
The Charlotte Observer reported that the fan was a 16-year-old girl, who did not want to be identified or comment on the odd event.
The mouthpiece remained on the ground, behind the girl, for the rest of game as fans apparently did not want to touch it.
