The Utah Jazz defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime in each team's second preseason game late Tuesday night by a score of 117-114 but the story coming out of the game had nothing to do with the result. Trevor Booker was involved in a little skirmish with Roy Hibbert and ended up slapping him in the face. Because Booker hit Hibbert in the face it is entirely possible that he will be suspended, according to former Brooklyn Nets assistant general manager Bobby Marks.
Trevor Booker didn't back down from 7-footer Roy Hibbert, he slapped him https://t.co/qhbXtR7xkD https://t.co/GOPVl6IEKP
— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) October 7, 2015
This whole thing started when Booker went to set a screen on Julius Randle but he got a little too physical and pushed Randle away. Randle walked away from the situation but Hibbert came to his defense and got right in the face of Booker which prompted the slap to the face. The good news for Booker is that he had an open fist so it wasn't exactly a punch, the bad news is that he still hit Hibbert in the face and the league will definitely not like that.
Booker has a history of being disciplined by the league as he has been fined upwards of seven times for technical fouls he has received in games and has even been ejected once for getting two technical fouls. Booker is entering his sixth season in the league and is a fan favorite in Utah after only one season there but hitting a player in the face during a preseason game is not a good look.
Booker started this game because Derrick Favors sat out due to injury but Favors is expected back soon which would push Booker back to the bench. A suspension of one or two games is likely to be handed down to Booker but when he comes back he will continue to provide toughness for this young Jazz team.
The 6 foot-7 power forward is entering the final year of contract and will make a little less than $4.5 million this season. Booker averaged 7.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game last season and if he puts up similar numbers again this season he could be in for a nice pay increase.
