Analyzing the NBA's suspensions in the aftermath of the Houston vs LA Lakers melee

NBA fans around the globe are now familiar with the sequence of events that led to the ejections and suspensions of Brandon Ingram, Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul during Houston's 124-115 victory over the Lakers on Saturday night.

Kiki Vandeweghe, the NBA's Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, was the man charged with handing down suspensions to the trio, and the former all-star was coincidentally in attendance to witness the brawl; Vandeweghe concluded that Ingram would be suspended for four games, Rondo for three games, and Paul for two. Are these punishments fair? Let's examine, one player at a time.

Brandon Ingram

Ingram was given the longest suspension for two reasons: he started the altercation by shoving James Harden without being provoked, and he re-entered after walking away from the fight to throw a blind coward punch at the back of Chris Paul. Ingram has no history of violence, dirty play, flopping, or any other unlikeable attributes in the NBA, so this behaviour was unusual from him.

Ingram's initial shove on Harden correctly earned him a technical foul, but he briefly escaped ejection despite disputing his technical foul call in an intimidating manner by standing inches from the referee and looking down on him disrespectfully. Ingram probably should have been handed his second technical and thus been ejected from the game at this point, but the official let it slide and he remained on the court.

After walking away from the altercation, he re-entered with fire in his eyes when punches were thrown and even landed one of his own to ensure his ejection and suspension.

Ingram suffering the longest suspension is the correct call, but he is lucky to only escape with four games. If he had received his second technical when he intimidated the referee - which he is lucky not to have - and he had still chosen to enter the brawl before leaving the court, he would be facing at least ten games on the sidelines, and probably even longer.

Considering players are punished for leaving the bench during a fight there is no doubt he would have been disciplined harshly for entering a fight when he shouldn't have been in the arena; the Trail Blazers' CJ McCollum was handed a one-game suspension for leaving the bench during an altercation last season despite not actually entering the fight.

Of course, this is only hypothetical as the second technical was not called until he re-entered the fight, but I feel a fifth game should have been added to his suspension due to his behaviour towards the referee.

Rajon Rondo

Rondo was banned for three games for spitting in the face of Chris Paul and for throwing the first punch in the fight. While Rondo and the Lakers contested that the spit was accidental due to his mouthguard, anyone who has followed Rondo's career knows this almost definitely wasn't the case.

Rondo has a history of dirty play and unsportsmanlike behaviour, not to mention a long-running feud with Paul. It is safe to assume Rondo didn't accidentally spit on one of his most hated rivals during a heated discussion in the closing minutes of a one-point game. Rondo's actions caused Paul to retaliate, but Rondo was the first of the pair to throw - and land - a punch.

Is three games the right length for Rondo's suspension? My feeling is that he should have been handed a fourth game at least. While Ingram was technically the instigator, the ruckus had died down to nothing more than some trash talk before Rondo spat on Paul while the two shared some fierce words.

Furthermore, Rondo threw and landed the first punch on Paul, which in itself should be at least a two-game suspension if Arron Afflalo's punishment from last season is a fair precedence. If throwing the first punch is worth two games, does that mean spitting in someone's face before throwing the first punch is only worth an extra one?

I believe it should have been more. Rondo may have escaped slightly easily because Paul made contact with his face in between Rondo's spit and his first punch. Overall, it is fair and reasonable that Rondo was given a longer suspension than Paul, but a shorter one than Ingram.

Chris Paul

Paul was hit with a two-game suspension for fighting with Rondo. Paul was clearly provoked by being spat on, and hit back by shoving Rondo's face after wiping the spit off himself. Paul's action was highly unusual, it appeared as though he may have been wiping some of the spit back on to the face of Rondo in a highly aggressive manner, which unsurprisingly led to Rondo punching his foe without hesitation.

After seeing the footage of Rondo spitting, it became clear that Paul was just sticking up for himself following an incredibly disrespectful act. He was also employing self-defence mechanics by swinging back at Rondo after the Laker threw the first punch. Still, you simply can't throw a punch without consequences in the NBA, even if you were provoked or self-defending. Paul's two-game ban seems spot on, he deserved the weakest ban of the trio but he couldn't escape a multi-game suspension.

It's worth noting that Houston's James Ennis committed a flagrant foul not long before the altercation which left Luke Walton fuming. The Lakers' head coach believed Ennis should have been handed a flagrant 2 foul and an automatic ejection, and he was unhappy with the decision as it may have contributed to the melee.

The call to not eject Ennis was the correct one however, and the small forward was not on the court when Ingram pushed Harden and lit a flame under both teams. While the decision to not eject Ennis may have had Lakers players upset, it is unlikely that it contributed to the brawl.

In a tight game between two of the game's most competitive point guards, it's no surprise things escalated, but nobody could have imagined things would reach this level. The season is early and the players will be back on the court in no time. Can you believe we're only a week into the season? Can you believe we're already getting Laker content that isn't 100% about LeBron James?

The Lakers travel to Houston to play the Rockets on December 13th - write that down in your diary, because it will be one of the must-see games of the year; Paul and Rondo will not let this feud die.