Chris Paul's camp was "surprised and disappointed" by Brandon Ingram throwing a punch at him during Saturday's chaotic fourth-quarter brawl between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers, a source told ESPN's Marc J. Spears.
The spat initially began with a shoving match between Paul and Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo, before quickly devolving into fisticuffs. Ingram then ran toward the scrum and threw a punch at Paul while teammate LeBron James was trying to restrain him.
Repost from @bleacherreport Rondo and CP3 threw hands in Lakers-Rockets brawl 😳 #nba #lakersvsrockets pic.twitter.com/txEge1nver
— T-ENTSPORTS (@t_entsports) October 21, 2018
According to Spears, Paul has spent time mentoring fellow North Carolina native Ingram.
Paul told ESPN that the seeds of the brawl were planted when Rondo spat at him. Some observers were surprised to see the normally laconic, mild-mannered Ingram react to the incident so quickly, although teammate JaVale McGee was not.
"He’s usually quiet," McGee told the L.A. Times' Tania Ganguli. "But I mean, you poke a bear, you get bit."
