Bam Adebayo punching former teammate Tyler Herro during the 2026 Las Vegas Summer League was shocking to hear about, but not the first time something like this has happened.
The Adebayo and Herro incident joins a long list of aggressive incidents between teammates, but we haven’t seen one with this severity that often.
In fact, there are only three high-profile incidents of teammate violence over the last 15 years, so let’s take a look at those and how they differ from Adebayo and Herro’s situation.
Draymond Green punches Jordan Poole (2022, Golden State Warriors)
The most recent and arguably the highest-profile incident of the list came just a few months after the Golden State Warriors became NBA Champions in 2022. TMZ leaked a video of veteran forward Draymond Green knocking out rising guard Jordan Poole at practice after trash-talk gone wrong.
Poole reportedly called Green a backpack that Steph Curry has to carry while also allegedly making remarks about receiving a bigger contract extension than what Green had. This incident completely derailed Golden State’s attempt at retaining its NBA Championship.
Thankfully, the Adebayo and Herro incident happened two weeks after Herro had been traded to a new team. The Warriors had to live with the fallout of the Green-Poole fight in their locker room over the 2022-23 season, exiting the 2023 Playoffs in round two with Poole looking like a shell of his former self.
He’d get salary-dumped to the Wizards in 2023, who have since traded him to the Pelicans, where he is now. Green is currently a free agent but widely expected to return and continue his illustrious career with the franchise.
Bobby Portis Jr. punches Nikola Mirotic (2017, Chicago Bulls)
The incident between Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis Jr. before the Chicago Bulls’ 2017 season opener might be the most severe on this list. Portis, who is now teammates with Adebayo on the Heat, reportedly got into an altercation with Mirotic during practice over trash-talk.
After Mirotic attempted to charge at Portis, the then 22-year-old Portis punched Mirotic hard enough for him to be sidelined for the next four to six weeks. Portis was suspended for eight games while Mirotic recovered from fractures to his upper jaw/facial area and a concussion.
The pair were rivals and competing for the starting power forward role. Mirotic was expected to win that battle, but the punch led to the Spanish forward waiving his no-trade clause and demanding an exit, which he got with a trade to the Pelicans. This incident also led to the emergence of Lauri Markkanen in Chicago.
Portis faced severe reputational damage that he couldn’t fix until his stint with the Milwaukee Bucks as a minimum player who earned a role and an extension with a championship team. Mirotic would leave the NBA in 2019 to become a star in Europe, where he still plies his trade.
Tony Allen punches O.J. Mayo (2011, Memphis Grizzlies)
We’re going 15 years in the past for this incident, but it’s potentially the last NBA fight caused because of one teammate owing another money over gambling. Tony Allen is considered one of the greatest defenders of his era, while O.J. Mayo was a rising star who hadn’t found his potential when the pair clashed in January 2011.
Mayo reportedly owed somewhere between $1,000 to $7,000 to Allen as unpaid Bourré debts when he was trash-talking Allen on the practice court.
Mayo’s words seemed to cross the line as Allen lost his cool and attacked Mayo with a punch before landing additional blows to Mayo’s eye, mouth, shoulder, and head. The Grizzlies banned gambling on team flights, but neither player was punished with a suspension.
Unlike the two incidents before this, the fallout didn’t lead to a breakup either. In fact, Mayo and Allen squashed their beef and played key roles in Memphis’ shocking first-round upset win over the No. 1-seeded San Antonio Spurs, with both becoming ‘Grit and Grind’ icons.
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