Portland Trail Blazers' Jusuf Nurkic fined $40K for throwing Indiana Pacers fan's phone

NEW YORK — The NBA fined Jusuf Nurkic of the Portland Trail Blazers $40,000 on Tuesday for confronting a fan at a game in Indiana and throwing the person's cellphone.

The incident happened shortly after the game Sunday between the Blazers and the Pacers. Nurkic approached the fan, walked within a few inches of the person, grabbed the person's cellphone and tossed it into nearby seats.

It was not clear what preceded the incident, which lasted only a few seconds. A security guard walked between Nurkic and the fan after the phone was tossed, at which point the Blazers' center walked away.

Indiana won the game 129-98. Nurkic, whose nickname is «the Bosnian Beast,» did not play. He has not played since mid-February because of left foot plantar fasciitis.