Warriors’ Steph Curry fined $25k for throwing mouthpiece that earned ejection

Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry may be one of the faces of the NBA, but even the four-time NBA champion has to follow the rules. 

Curry was fined $25,000 for throwing his mouthpiece into the stands in the fourth quarter of Golden State’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night. 

The NBA announced the fine Friday night, two days after the Warriors defeated the Grizzlies 122-120. 

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The ejection was the third of Curry’s career, all due to Curry throwing his famed mouthpiece. 

With Golden State leading Memphis by two, late in the fourth quarter, Warriors guard Jordan Poole launched a deep three-point attempt as Curry clapped for the basketball. 

After the shot – a miss by Poole – Curry turned and ran down the court, angrily throwing his mouthpiece out of bounds. 

“Stephen Curry takes his mouthpiece and throws into the stands with force, as per rule, that is an automatic ejection,” referee Sean Wright said, according to ESPN.

After the game, Curry and Poole were seen hugging in the tunnel following Poole’s game-winning layup with under three seconds remaining in the game. 

“[It was] fire,” Poole said of the game-winner, according to ESPN. “It’s the only way to say it. It was pretty dope. . . . If anything, to take a positive from this, we know what to do in these crunch games. We’re getting a lot of experience with close games in the regular season, and that will definitely help us down the road.”

Following the win over the Grizzlies, Curry admitted that his ejection was ill-timed. 

“Crucial time in the game, and the way our season has gone, there’s questions about the heightened sense of urgency of every detail matters. And when you want something really bad . . . just getting a win,” Curry said. “And fourth-quarter execution, clutch-time-type situation, all that stuff does matter.” 

“So, I reacted in a way that obviously put myself out of the game, put the team in a tough place. But the intentions and the energy about what matters and the sense of winning . . . that’s what it’s about.”