San Antonio's Stephen Jackson was fined $25,000 by the NBA Sunday for a "hostile statement" he sent to the Thunder's Serge Ibaka over Twitter.
Ibaka got tangled up with Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers during a game on Friday, which earned both players technical fouls. Jackson took to Twitter to defend World Peace, a friend and former teammate.
"Somebody tel serg Abaka. He aint bout dis life. Next time he run up on me im goin in his mouth. That's a promise. He doin 2 much," he tweeted.
Jackson later deleted the message and apologized for his remark.
"I apologize to Serge Ibaka, the NBA, and to all my fans for the comments I made," Jackson tweeted. "It was unprofessional and childish. I'm not a thug just a man who speaks his mind. It was not appropriate. I do apologize. Only a man can admit when he's wrong."
"The recent public comments made by Stephen Jackson are absolutely unacceptable, cannot be tolerated and do not reflect the standards held by the San Antonio Spurs," Spurs general manager RC Buford said Sunday night in an emailed statement, The Associated Press reported.
Jackson and World Peace -- then known as Ron Artest -- were teammates on the Indiana Pacers. Jackson infamously backed up World Peace during the "Malice at the Palace" in Detroit, which resulted in heavy suspensions for both players. Jackson had to sit out 30 games while World Peace was suspended for the entire 2004-05 season.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
