Getty Christian Koloko #35 of the Toronto Raptors warms up ahead of an NBA game
The Miami Heat were able to pull out their first win of the season in their weekend home game against the Toronto Raptors on October 22. However, the win was slightly overshadowed by an in-game scuffle that broke out between Heat forward Caleb Martin and Raptors rookie Christian Koloko.
Midway through the third quarter of Saturday’s matchup, the two got into an altercation that found them in the third row of the Heat’s FTX Arena. After being tangled up fighting for positioning to rebound a Pascal Siakam missed three pointer. Ultimately the tangle brought Koloko to the floor, where Martin made a move to stand over the Raptors rookie that was on the floor and when Koloko stood up in Martin’s face, it ended with a tackle takedown from Martin that rivaled some of what fans saw the same night in UFC 280 on the same night sending them both three rows into the stands. Martin cited a game of chippy play as what led to the altercation.
“I just think that there’s a lot of plays leading up to it. It was a chippy game,” Martin said. “That’s typically how the game goes with Toronto — it’s chippy back and forth. But, ultimately, I just think that emotions were high and the game was a close game of back and forth.”
Raptors Forward Christian Koloko on Scuffle with Martin
Koloko, who wasn’t the player to initiate the fight, seemed confused by the resulting events.
“I feel like everybody saw what happened,” Koloko said after Saturday’s game. “I got fouled and I fell and I don’t know what he was trying to do. I just stood up for myself and I get ejected. So that’s what happened.”
“When he fouled me, he was basically grabbing me and pushing me,” Koloko said. “I don’t know … I’m confused. I don’t know why. I don’t even know him, so I don’t know what was going on in his head.
“He just stood there looking at me like crazy. I just stood up. I don’t know.”
Martin expressed his remorse stating that in the future, he needs to handle himself better, “Overall, I gotta be more professional in that and the way I handle those types of situations.”
Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra on Martin & Koloko Scuffle
Heat head coach Eric Spoelstra talked with the media after the game and was happy about how his coaching staff handled the situation, which included keeping it from being a benches-clearing altercation. He also noted that he liked the way his team responded following the ejections and finished the game to come away with their first win of the season.
“I thought Malik did a great job of keeping everybody on the bench,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s just one of those emotional things that happened and thankfully it didn’t escalate. I don’t think it affected necessarily the tenor or the emotions after that. It was an isolated incident between two players. Again, I wish I didn’t happen that way with Caleb. But it did and then we had to manage that. They had some energy and the swing momentum after that. It could have looked a lot worse, but we were able to respond and make some big plays going down the stretch.”