Austin Rivers fined $25,000 for throwing a seat cushion

WHEN NBA star Austin Rivers vented his frustrations on the sideline, one simple act lumbered him with a huge fine and left his dad to pick up the pieces.

AS a general rule, if you are an NBA player in the middle of a game, the only thing you should be throwing is the basketball.

Unfortunately for Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers, no one told him.

The 23-year-old was fined US$25,000 ($35,000 AUD) by the NBA after he threw a seat cushion into the crowd during his side’s clash with the Sacramento Kings on Thursday.

The situation was made worse when a woman seated in the second row at Sleep Train Arena was struck directly in the face by the cushion, causing “discomfort in her eyes”.

Rivers attempted to plead his case after the match, noting his clean disciplinary record as his defence.

Austin Rivers throws seat & gets fined $25K after dad tells him he's been grounded https://t.co/Qs49Qgj9cA

— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) October 30, 2015

“The (cushion) was light and it just flew into the air backwards. I didn’t really look when it went into the crowd,” Rivers told ESPN.

“I actually stood up for a second and I was like, ‘I apologise. I didn’t mean to do that.’

“I tried to tell the NBA that,” he added. “This has never happened before with me. I don’t have a history of throwing things. It’s unfortunate, but you just learn your lesson not to take your anger out on anything. I told the NBA that I apologise and that it will never happen again.”

The Clippers point guard is actually son of Los Angles coach Doc Rivers, who found the incident rather amusing, and left a simple message for his son.

“I’m so disappointed as a parent,” Doc Rivers joked after the game.

“It was an accident, obviously,” he said.

“The unit was frustrated. He kind of just grabbed it, not to throw it in the crowd. It just happened. But it’s automatic, the fine. There’s nothing you can do about it.

“We use those big pads. He grabbed it just to throw it over into the back row so he could sit down. He said the thing just took off on him. There’s nothing you can do about it. Next time just place it. Place it. Otherwise it costs you more.”

Rivers had some explaining to do.

Despite apologising to the injured fan, and inviting her and her family in the LA change room after the game, Rivers couldn’t avoid the fine.

And despite his $3.1 million yearly salary, it seems rather harsh for what it was.

The $25,000 fine is the same as that given to former Clippers teammate Matt Barnes in December last year, and again in January 2015. However unlike Rivers’ relatively innocent cushion throw, Barnes was punished for verbally abusing fans through use of offensive language.

Originally published as Austin Rivers fined $25,000 for throwing a seat cushion