Walker Is Suspended for Grabbing Referee

Boston Celtic forward Antoine Walker was suspended for one game by the NBA on Friday for grabbing a referee during an angry confrontation with Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal.

Walker will sit out Game 4 of the Eastern Conference series tonight at Indianapolis. O’Neal was fined $10,000 for his role in the altercation.

Walker, who had 14 points and nine rebounds, was ejected after his second technical after a hard foul on O’Neal with just over four minutes left during Thursday night’s game.

During the confrontation, Walker grabbed referee Tom Washington by the arm in an attempt to move him out of the way. O’Neal shoved Walker in the chest and grabbed his jersey, but no punches were thrown.

O’Neal also received a technical but remained in the game and finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. The Pacers won, 99-76, to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Boston Coach Doc Rivers said before the penalties were announced that he didn’t think the league would suspend his star forward because the contact with Washington wasn’t intentional.

“If you’re arguing with the ref and you go and bump a ref, that’s one thing,” Rivers said.

“But in a scramble, or whatever that was, when guys are running around, refs are told to go in and engage, and players, you don’t know who you’re pushing around or grabbing, so that’s a big difference.”

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Former Seattle SuperSonic forward Shawn Kemp was charged with one count of possession of more than 40 grams of marijuana. King County prosecutors said Kemp and Gavin Lamar Jones were arrested about 1 a.m. on April 4 in the Seattle suburb of Shoreline.