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NBA fines David Vanterpool $10,000 and Nets $25,000 for deflection in Wizards game

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San Antonio Spurs v Brooklyn Nets Photo by David L. Nemec/NBAE via Getty Images

Shams Charania reports that NBA has fined assistant coach David Vanterpool $10,000 and the Nets an additional $25,000 for Vanderpool “interfering with play” at the end of Wednesday’s game vs. the Wizards. The veteran assistant stuck his hand out while standing on the sidelines, deflecting a pass between the Wiz’s Spencer Dinwiddie and Kyle Kuzma...

The NBA decision will have no effect on the outcome of the game which the Nets won by one point, 119-118.

Earlier in the day, it had been reported that the Nets assistant coach and the team were “under investigation” for Vanterpool’s deflection of pass at the 5:45 mark of the fourth quarter of a close game. The deflection was not caught by any of the game’s three refs but YES Network cameras showed clearly Vanterpool’s had striking the ball.

Kristian Winfield of the Daily News wrote Thursday afternoon...

The NBA is investigating a live-ball interference between Nets assistant coach David Vanterpool and a pass from Washington Wizards’ Spencer Dinwiddie on Wednesday.

The expectation is that the league comes to a decision in the next 24-to-48 hours and Vanterpool or the Nets could face discipline in the form of a fine or a suspension.

The question for the league, of course, was whether Vanterpool deliberately sought to alter the ball’s path or was it simply inadvertent. Video of the incident, particularly when slowed down, makes it appear Vanterpool was deliberate in his actions. In his comments Friday night, Steve Nash who was standing next to Vanterpool at the time said that his assistant felt “horrible” and that the incident took place in the “heat of the moment.”

As Frank Isola said post-game, he had never seen anything like it other than in biddy basketball.

The incident could very well have altered the outcome of the Nets 119-118 win over the Wizards in Washington. The score was 106-103 and the time and the Nets were able to gain possession, go down the court and score.

Kyle Kuzma was so incensed that he took a foul so he and Spencer Dinwiddie could argue with the refs. But non-calls can’t be appealed and the Nets went on to win. If the refs had called it, Vanterpool would’ve been called for a technical foul and possession would have gone over to the Wizards.

In a post-game pool report, the refs admitted that none of them saw the deflection.

At the end of the day, the game stands as a win. What’s done is done.

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