Myron Gardner #15 of the Miami Heat celebrates a three point basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half at Kaseya Center on January 17, 2026 in Miami.
Carmen Mandato
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There were no suspensions issued, but Miami Heat forward Myron Gardner and Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. were both fined by the NBA for their roles in an on-court altercation on Saturday.
The NBA announced Monday that Gardner and Pippen were fined $35,000 apiece.
The incident involving Gardner and Pippen occurred late in the Heat’s home win over the Grizzlies on Saturday night with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter, as Pippen charged at Gardner and grabbed him by the throat before both players wrestled their way down to the court. Their teammates immediately rushed over, and Pippen and Gardner were both ejected from the game after the altercation was broken up.
But the scuffle seemed to be sparked by something that happened on the previous possession, as Gardner ran into Pippen from behind after Pippen put up a three-pointer. That force knocked Pippen to the court, and he quickly got up and charged at Gardner on the other end of the court.
“I thought it was kind of a cheap shot,” Pippen said of that Gardner shove from behind. “He kind of hit me from when I didn’t see him. So I thought it was a soft move.”
Scotty Pippen Jr. #1 of the Memphis Grizzlies reacts after a fight against the Miami Heat during the fourth quarter of the game at Kaseya Center on February 21, 2026 in Miami. Tomas Diniz Santos Getty Images
But Gardner said Monday that “I was really just trying to get on defense, trying to run. Ran into him by accident, for real.”
There was also some tussling between the two players even before that, with Pippen pulling Gardner down to the court while trying to pursue a rebound on the possession immediately before Gardner’s shove on Pippen’s three-point shot.
The NBA said in its press release when announcing the fines, “With 1:55 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s 136-120 victory over the Grizzlies on Feb. 21 at Kaseya Center, Gardner initiated the incident by bumping Pippen from behind, causing Pippen to fall to the floor. Pippen further escalated the altercation by forcefully shoving Gardner in response. Both players were assessed technical fouls and ejected from the game.”
“Oh, man. I feel really light, for sure,” Gardner, 24, said of being fined $35,000. “But it’s good. It’s behind me now. So there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Gardner, who just had his two-way contract with the Heat converted to a standard contract last week, added that he was “for sure surprised” that he was fined for the incident.
“He’s an easy target,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Monday’s practice when asked about Gardner’s league-issued fine. “He’s a young player. It’s easy for the league to make a point on this because it went into the stands. But we disagree with it. Pippen is the one that pushed it into the stands, and Myron didn’t really retaliate. Once he was on the ground, he was laughing. So if it was somebody else, I don’t think it would have been $35,000 fine. But we’ll move on.”
Gardner, an undrafted rookie, has become a consistent part of the Heat’s rotation recently due to his relentless energy and effort. He has played in 22 of the Heat’s last 27 games after playing in just six of the Heat’s first 31 games this season.
“It’s a good teaching moment for Myron because now he’ll be on the radar with officiating,” Spoelstra said. “And we’ve wanted to clean up his technique anyway, which he’s been getting much better with. Being able to defend without fouling and doing things with more discipline. And then we’ll move on from there.”
RILEY’S MOMENT
With the Los Angeles Lakers unveiling Pat Riley’s statue on Sunday, Spoelstra watched the ceremony closely from Miami and came away impressed.
“It was brilliant. It was moving,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s practice. “I’ve heard so many of Pat’s speeches before. I think this one was probably the best one I’ve ever heard him say. What a special celebration for him, the family, the Laker organization. All of it was so intentional. The way the statue presented itself, him between Magic [Johnson] and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], calling a play with Magic handling to get the ball to Kareem.
“But Pat’s brilliance, part of his brilliance, when he speaks in a setting like that, you feel like he’s talking directly to you. And I bet every single player or person sitting down felt like his message was directly to him. I think people that were watching it felt like he was speaking to them. Everybody in the Miami Heat organization felt like he was speaking to us. That’s just an incredible gift he has to move people, to motivate people, to message in a way where he was just showing great gratitude for that.”
Spoelstra took over for Riley as the Heat’s head coach in 2008. Riley, who is currently the Heat’s president, is now in his 31st season with the Heat after joining the organization in 1995.
“For me personally, it just reminded me that I don’t ever take it for granted, being around greatness for the last 30 years,” Spoelstra continued on Monday. “I have so many notes that actually were not in the house, that were in storage of when I was a video coordinator and a young assistant. I used to just take notes of every one of his speeches to the team. Because they were as moving in that time, in a half hour, 45 minutes, with a thoughtful, intentional message as it was yesterday in front of everybody. So well-deserved. I got choked up a few times watching it. Just awesome to witness, and it was important for our team to see that. Because when I mentioned that his brilliance is he’s talking to everybody, I felt like he was also talking to this team. I wanted them to hear some of the real poignant messages about what it is to be significant. And how you can be remembered to be a part of something bigger than yourself. All those messages, it was beautiful. I’ve heard so many of them, but that was the best I’ve heard all of them at one time.”
INJURY REPORT
Davion Mitchell (illness) and Nikola Jovic (lower back tightness) did not take part in the Heat’s practice on Monday, and there status for Tuesday’s matchup against the Bucks in Milwaukee (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) remains up in the air.
Mitchell and Jovic also missed Saturday’s victory over the Grizzlies because of their ailments.
Jovic, 22, visited a doctor on Monday for his back issue. Jovic also dealt with a back injury that kept him out for a large chunk of his rookie season in 2022-23, but it’s unclear if this current back problem is connected to the one that affected him as a rookie.
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Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.