Miles Bridges fined $50K for tossing mouthpiece

Hornets forward Miles Bridges has been fined $50K by the league for throwing his mouthpiece into the spectator stands, which resulted in the mouthpiece striking a teenage fan, NBA Communications tweets.

The incident occurred after Bridges received two technical fouls and was ejected during the fourth quarter of Charlotte’s 132-103 Play-In Tournament loss to the Hawks on Wednesday. Bridges was irritated by a heckler as he headed toward the locker room and responded by whipping his mouthpiece into the stands, which missed the heckler and instead hit a 16-year-old girl.

He expressed regret afterward and hopes to make amends with the fan he struck.

“I was upset about a call, a couple of calls really. I let my temper get the best of me. That was definitely the wrong thing to do,” Bridges said. ” … I was aiming for the guy that was screaming at me and it hit a little girl … I take full responsibility and will take any consequences the NBA gives me. … Hopefully, I can get in contact with the young lady, sincerely apologize and do something nice for her.”