NBA: Karl-Anthony Towns and Joel Embiid suspended for two games for unsportsmanlike conduct

The NBA league office has suspended both Karl-Anthony Towns and Joel Embiid after their scuffle in the Philadelphia 76ers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game Thursday night.

Physical altercations between players are nothing new in the NBA. The league does its best to prevent it, but their efforts are sometimes futile and weak. After all, players with bad boy reputations sell tickets and they keep the league fresh.

It was actually 15 years ago now, but it seems like it was just yesterday when NBA players rumbled with each other and against fans in an Indiana vs. Detroit game. Officially, it was a dark day for the league and the game of professional basketball. Still, if the fight didn't happen, people wouldn't remember that particular game today.

In the late '80s to early '90s, the Detroit Pistons even created a team culture around playing dirty and getting into fights. The league could have put their foot down then, but they only did enough to make it look like they "don't tolerate" such behavior as much as they understand that it's showbiz.

In the latest fight between the 76ers and Timberwolves players, we see the usual "no tolerance -but a slap on the wrist" policy the league applies. Basketball is a physical game and with emotions running high, it's understandable that players can get into scuffles. A two-game suspension announced by the NBA is in line with their usual reaction.

Ben Simmons, who is involved in the fight, didn't get any disciplinary action. There's a lot of noise in social media. But the league acting as Judge, Jury, and Executioner agrees with his defense that he was breaking up the fight and acting as peacemaker, instead of a belligerent. A lot of people in the audience saw Simmons doing a wrestling headlock on KAT during most of the so-called fight (Charles Barkley calls it "a snuggle party"). However, the league is aware of Simmons and KAT's off-court friendship, and witnesses on-scene corroborate Simmons' defense.

The players involved were ejected and in the end, the 76ers won big time 117-95 against the Timberwolves.