Markieff Morris and Archie Goodwin tussled on the Suns bench
It has been a rough season for the Phoenix Suns, who came into the campaign with hopes of challenging for a playoff spot and have instead developed into one of the most negative stories of the season. They fired head coach Jeff Hornacek last Monday, have had several important players succumb to injury, and figure to spend the next few months doing their best to end up with a top-three draft pick. Interim head coach Earl Watson will hope to prove himself so he can become a candidate for the full-time job, but his main job may be nothing more than making sure things don’t get any worse than they are right now.
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An incident early in Wednesday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns indicates that his task may be quite difficult. Forward Markieff Morris and guard Archie Goodwin got into a shoving match on the bench during a first-quarter timeout. It started with an intense discussion and escalated when Morris appeared to choke Goodwin. Take a look:
It doesn’t seem like the disagreement lingered too long — Morris passed to Goodwin on a possession after the incident — but it’s certainly not a good look for a team that’s had its share of disarray and disagreements (including one started by owner Robert Sarver) for the majority of the season so far.
It’s especially problematic for Morris, who got very upset this offseason when the Suns traded his twin brother Marcus and has performed below expectations this season. Morris also earned a two-game suspension from the team when he threw a towel at Hornacek in late December. Watson has consistently declared his belief in Morris since he took the job, but this situation will make it harder to convince the public.
Teammates argue with each other all the time in the midst of competition, so it’s hard to chide Morris and Goodwin too heavily for this incident. But it’s certainly a bad look for a team that needs to shift from an atmosphere of negativity to one of optimism for the future.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
