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Warriors center calls out Marcus Smart’s ‘fake toughness’ after punch leads to ejection

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Cite

Webeck, E. (2026, November 12). Warriors center calls out Marcus Smart’s ‘fake toughness’ after punch leads to ejection. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/11/12/sports/warriors-center-calls-out-marcus-smarts-fake-toughness-after-punch-leads-to-ejection/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-11-12 · by Evan Webeck

Quick Summary

During a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, Marcus Smart was ejected after punching Warriors center Charles Bassey during a heated exchange. Bassey criticized Smart’s actions, calling them “fake toughness,” and suggested that Smart was attempting to get himself ejected rather than competing. Bassey maintained that he had been playing cleanly and that Smart had been the one instigating throughout the game.
Written by AI on 2026-11-15, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).
See how they differ ↓

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 12, 2026, the Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors 115-108, ending the Warriors' eight-game winning streak. Stephen Curry left the game early in the first quarter due to right abdominal soreness and did not return. Despite the absence of Curry, who averages 30.6 points per game, the Warriors were led by rookie Yaxel Lendeborg with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Brandin Podziemski with 22 points. The game was also marred by an incident where Marcus Smart of the Rockets was ejected for throwing a punch at Charles Bassey of the Warriors, which resulted in a Flagrant 2 foul. The NBA subsequently suspended Smart for three games, effective immediately.

Written for “Marcus Smart Banned for Punching Bassey” on 2026-11-15, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

How they differ

4 outlets covered “Marcus Smart Banned for Punching Bassey”.

What each outlet says

One AI summary per outlet of its latest article on this story, written from that article alone and checked against it. Open the article for the outlet's own words.

New York PostThis outlet12 Nov

During a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, Marcus Smart was ejected after punching Warriors center Charles Bassey during a heated exchange. Bassey criticized Smart’s actions, calling them “fake toughness,” and suggested that Smart was attempting to get himself ejected rather than competing. Bassey maintained that he had been playing cleanly and that Smart had been the one instigating…

Warriors center calls out Marcus Smart’s ‘fake toughness’ after punch leads to ejection (this article)2 articles from New York Post on this story
Toronto Star12 Nov

Marcus Smart of the Houston Rockets was ejected from a game against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night after throwing a punch at Charles Bassey, receiving a Flagrant 2 foul. The NBA is reviewing the incident and may impose further penalties like fines or suspensions before the Rockets' next game on Friday. Bassey claims Smart had been playing dirty all game, while Rockets coach Ime Udoka says Smart felt…

Marcus Smart's ejection for throwing a punch could lead to further sanction from NBA office →2 articles from Toronto Star on this story
Fox News13 Nov

The NBA suspended Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart for three games without pay after he threw a right hook that grazed Golden State Warriors center Charles Bassey during a game on Thursday. Smart was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and his 13th career ejection after the incident, which occurred during a 115-108 Rockets victory. While Smart claimed Bassey provoked him by grabbing his injured elbow, Bassey admitted to…

Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart handed 3-game ban after swinging at Warriors center Charles Bassey →2 articles from Fox News on this story
The Guardian12 Nov

The Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors 115-108 on Wednesday night, snapping the Warriors' eight-game winning streak while they played without Stephen Curry. Curry exited the game in the first quarter with abdominal soreness, and the Warriors were held below their season average of 120.4 points despite Kevin Durant scoring 20 for Houston and Yaxel Lendeborg providing 25 for Golden State. The report…

Smart ejected for punching Bassey as Warriors lose Curry to injury in defeat to Rockets →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
Hedges 2 of 19 claims Outlet record 67/100

Story

Marcus Smart Banned for Punching Bassey
Sports · 7 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↑
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
7
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-15 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 20059 article(s) · 40 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 40 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Evan Webeck
65 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
The 49ers could be without All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams and stalwart linebacker Dre Greenlaw after both players suffered injuries in practice this week.
If he was trying to play, he wouldn’t do that.
“I just saw him holding his side and tried to get him out as quickly as I could.”
… “Maybe he sensed it.
Hosting the Suns, again coming off a game the previous night, Golden State set things up to make sure its two veteran stars would be available for the rematch.
Austin Reaves got to the foul line on the Lakers’ first possession of the second quarter, extending their advantage to 25 points, 40-15, and that’s as wide as it would get.
Will Richard freed up Curry with a hard screen of Matisse Thybulle about four minutes into the fourth quarter, Curry received a pass from Draymond Green and buried a wide-open triple. The bucket was Curry’s eighth 3-pointer of the night and was good for his 25th, 26th and 27th points.
So, you could say they’re making progress, at least.
Curry finished with 44, and the Warriors needed every last one of them to hold off the Timberwolves, despite Golden State pulling ahead by 24 after halftime and Minnesota playing its first game since Anthony Edwards learned he would require knee surgery.
It appeared that a game that began without Edwards could end with Curry sitting on the bench, comfortably resting after building a big lead.
Also by Evan Webeck
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 65 articles by Evan Webeck →

Topics

Golden State’s Houston Rockets Warriors

Subjects

Bassey PERSON · 9× Smart PERSON · 4× Warriors ORG · 3× Charles Bassey PERSON · 1× Golden State’s ORG · 1× Houston GPE · 1× Marcus Smart PERSON · 1× Rockets ORG · 1×

Narrative

Marcus Smart took a swing at Golden State’s Charles Bassey and got himself ejected from the Warriors’ 115-108 loss to the Rockets on Wednesday night in Houston.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-15
If he was trying to play, he wouldn’t do that.

Claims (23 extracted, 1 hedged)

Marcus Smart took a swing at Golden State’s Charles Bassey and got himself ejected from the Warriors’ 115-108 loss to the Rockets on Wednesday night in Houston. asserted
himself → take → Houston
The Warriors center saved his punches for after the game. asserted
center → save → game
“Obviously,” Bassey said, “that was weak.” asserted
that → say → ?
Bassey and Smart got tangled up going for a rebound on a Warriors offensive possession late in the third quarter. asserted
Bassey → tangle → quarter
They continued the spat down to the opposite end of the court, and Smart eventually turned and put his chest into Bassey. asserted
Smart → continue → Bassey
Then, he took a step back and threw a punch. asserted
he → take → punch
Bassey kept his arms by his side during the whole exchange. He wasn’t impressed — or intimidated. asserted
He → keep → exchange
“I just think that, honestly, that was fake toughness,” Bassey said. asserted
Bassey → think → ?
“It didn’t surprise me. asserted
It → surprise → me
I knew he was going to do something. … asserted
he → know → something
I don’t think he was trying to play. asserted
he → think → ?
I think he was trying to get himself out of the game. asserted
he → think → game
If he was trying to play, he wouldn’t do that. asserted
he → try → that
I think he was trying to chill. asserted
he → think → ?
He wasn’t trying to hoop, bro. asserted
He → try → ?
According to Bassey’s account, he was just trying to grab an offensive rebound when Smart took hold of his hand. uncertain
Smart → accord → hand
Even as the game shifted to the other end of the court, he wouldn’t let go. asserted
he → shift → court
Earlier, Bassey said, Smart grabbed his knee while setting a screen. asserted
Smart → say → screen
“He’s been playing dirty the whole game, man,” Bassey said. asserted
Bassey → play → ?
As they were going back and forth down the court, Bassey said, “He said, ‘Hey, don’t do that.’ asserted
He → go → that
And I said, ‘Do what?’ asserted
I → say → what
Like, it’s a grown-ass league, you know? asserted
you → ’ → ?
But he was trying to chill tonight.” asserted
he → try → ?
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