Miami’s Dewayne Dedmon suspended for one game after ejection for tossing massage gun on the court vs. Thunder

Miami Heat center Dewayne Dedmon will be suspended for one game, following his ejection from Tuesday night’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, per The Athletic. It what was one of the strangest ejections you’ll ever see, which unfolded after a heated discussion with Miami’s coaching staff in the second quarter. 

As Gabe Vincent was bringing the ball up the floor for the Heat, play was stopped because an object suddenly came flying onto the court. It turned out to be a hand-held massage gun thrown by Dedmon out of frustration after an argument with the Heat coaching staff. Dedmon was promptly tossed from the game. 

It’s not entirely clear what Dedmon was arguing about with the coaching staff, but on the play prior to the timeout he made a somewhat halfhearted swipe at the ball on a Kenrich Williams drive. 

“It’s the Miami Heat. We’re all a bunch of gnarly personalities,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That part was unfortunate. Everything before that, that’s the Miami Heat. That part was unacceptable.”

This has been a frustrating few months for Dedmon, who is now in his third season with the Heat. He hasn’t started a single game, and is averaging just 11.9 minutes — the lowest total of his career. Even with Bam Adebayo out on Tuesday, Dedmon remained on the bench while two-way player Orlando Robinson joined the starters. 

At just 22-20 and sitting outside of the top-six in the Eastern Conference, it’s all but a lock that the Heat will look to make some sort of move at the trade deadline. Dedmon already seemed like a candidate to move given that his money for the 2023-24 season is non-guaranteed and younger players on the roster have seemingly passed him up. After this incident, it seems even more likely that the Heat could explore moving Dedmon.