WNBA | 10 players, Rich Mahorn get suspensions from fight

The WNBA punished so many players for their roles in this week's skirmish that the league is staggering the suspensions by alphabetical order.

"None of us can recall an incident like this," WNBA president Donna Orender said Thursday during a conference call.

The league suspended Detroit assistant coach Rick Mahorn and 10 players after the dustup between the Shock and the visiting Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday.

Shock forward Plenette Pierson was suspended for four games, the harshest penalty, for initiating and escalating the altercation.

"In our opinion, Plenette was the aggressor," said Renee Brown, the WNBA's chief of basketball operations and player relations

Mahorn was suspended for two games, as were Shannon Bobbitt and Murriel Page of the Sparks, for the incident at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

"As a team, we're incensed that Rick Mahorn was suspended," Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Houston, where the Shock were scheduled to play the Comets. "He was trying to be a peacemaker, and now he's being thrown under the bus."

Brown said Mahorn only started off as a peacemaker before he shoved Sparks star Lisa Leslie.

"Then he took it a step too far," she said. "When he pushed Lisa, it escalated the situation."

Players suspended for one game included Detroit's Kara Braxton, Tasha Humphrey, Elaine Powell and Sheri Sam, along with Los Angeles' Leslie, Candace Parker and DeLisha Milton-Jones.

The five suspended Shock players and Mahorn began serving their suspensions on Thursday night, where Detroit played Houston. The Shock was left with eight players for the game, including 50-year-old Nancy Lieberman, who signed a seven-day contract Thursday.

Pierson was also fined $1,500 and Mahorn was docked $1,000. The rest of the players involved were fined $500 each.

"I think the fines that were handed out were just," Los Angeles Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. "I don't think there is anyone in this league that condones fighting. All players know what happens when you leave the floor and throw a punch. Unfortunately we're missing four of our five starters. That's something that we'll have to deal with, but that's why they call it a team sport."

Laimbeer would not comment further on the suspensions of his players, but backed up Mahorn again before Thursday's game.

"It's unfortunate that players get suspended. These things happen," he said. "That's the way business works some days. I don't comment on suspensions because it's beyond my control. Except for Rick Mahorn. He was out there being a peacemaker, something happened and he was not involved, and that's bad."