Washington Wizards reserve forward Darius Songaila was suspended by the NBA for Game 6 of a playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night for hitting LeBron James in the face.
Songaila, averaging 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 15.4 minutes during the series, and Wizards coach Eddie Jordan say the contact was accidental as the player tried to pull his arm free after getting tangled with James in the first quarter of Game 5 on Wednesday.
"Songaila's contact was not made in the normal course of a basketball play, and he struck Lebron James in the face, and by rule receives an automatic suspension," NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said in a conference call with reporters Friday.
"In viewing this many times," Jackson said, "we do feel that it was intentional contact."
Songaila was called for a technical foul, the latest example of what a rough-and-tumble series this has been.
In Game 1, James elbowed Washington forward Andray Blatche in the chin, a move later quietly upgraded to a flagrant foul - but one Jackson said Friday did come in the "course of a basketball movement." Washington center Brendan Haywood was ejected from Game 2 for shoving James, and there also were flagrant fouls called on DeShawn Stevenson and Anderson Varejao during the series.
But Jackson said that the Songaila-James play was viewed on its own - and that the NBA has not warned the Wizards.
"There's no subliminal message here," Jackson said. "We evaluate each of these plays on its own merit."
Songaila participated in Washington 's shootaround at its arena Friday morning, before the league announced the suspension.
"We conducted an investigation that included interviewing both of the players involved and also taking input from the officials on the floor," Jackson said. "After that, we reviewed the video and then ultimately gathered all the information and made a decision."
Washington won 88-87 on Wednesday to cut Cleveland 's lead to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
Stevenson, involved in an off-court feud with James and fined for a throat-slashing gesture during Game 4, was hit by a towel thrown from the stands while he sat on the sideline during Game 5. Jackson said the league is looking into that.
On Thursday, neither Songaila nor Jordan had sounded worried there might be a suspension when they discussed the run-in with James.
"We got tangled up, my arm got caught inside of his, and when he tried to free himself, it was just an accident. He lifted my arm and it him right in the face. It was caused by him," Songaila said Thursday. "It wasn't my intention or anything like that. If anything, it was an accident."
Jordan watched video of the play and his opinion hadn't changed.
"I stand my ground. I thought he got tangled up with LeBron, and LeBron tried to get untangled. And in his method of trying to get untangled, Darius' arm just flew at his chin," Jordan said Thursday. "And LeBron's a terrific actor. We've seen some of his commercials."
