Suns' Grayson Allen ejected after shoving Thunder's Holmgren to the floor in NBA Cup quarterfinal

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen was ejected from an NBA Cup quarterfinal game against Oklahoma City on Wednesday night after he shoved Thunder center Chet Holmgren and knocked him to the floor.

The Thunder led 94-58 with 5:18 left in the third quarter when Allen and Holmgren collided while Holmgren appeared to be setting a screen. Allen extended both arms, knocking Holmgren off balance. After the foul, the teams came together in a skirmish near where the contact occurred. The play was reviewed, and Allen was called for a Flagrant 2, drawing a roar from the crowd.

Oklahoma City rolled to a 138-89 victory and advanced to a semifinal Saturday in Las Vegas.

Allen didn't think the contact warranted an ejection. He had been knocked to the floor by Holmgren on a box-out shortly before the altercation.

“Felt like I gave a good foul within the physicality of the game and what was going on both ends, especially with the bumps on screens, some of the hits on block-outs that were happening,” said Allen, who finished with 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

After the teams separated and the Thunder walked back to their bench, Oklahoma City's Jalen Williams hyped the crowd up.

Williams said Allen’s antics were “a thing he’s done his whole career.”

“It just added more juice to the game,” Williams said. “The fans were into it a little bit more, so naturally, you're playing a little harder. So it was kind of a good thing, to be honest. We started playing the way we usually play. A little more amped up.”

The Thunder outscored the Suns 44-31 the rest of the way, including 28-17 in the fourth quarter, to send Phoenix to its worst loss in franchise history.

“The game just, like, restarted,” Williams said. “And I think that bled over into the unit that finished the game. So you've got to give them props too.”

Phoenix guard Dillon Brooks, who has taken exception to Oklahoma City's physical play in the past, said he didn't match the Thunder's energy.

“I played kind of soft today,” said Brooks, who led the Suns with 16 points. “I should have been mixing it up more instead of Grayson. They called two quick ones and I was weak. And then, shoot, I got to be better for my teammates, so maybe you get a better chance at winning.”

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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, right, shoots in front of Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen, left, during the second half of an NBA Cup basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen (8) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen, left, shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, rifght, during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

INCHEON, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 2, 2026--

The Samsung Biologics Labor Union criticized Samsung Biologics after the Incheon Regional Labor Relations Commission (Case No. Incheon 2025 Discrimination 10) ruled the company’s exclusion of contract workers from holiday gift benefits constituted discriminatory treatment. Following this, the company changed counsel from Bae, Kim & Lee LLC to Kim & Chang, South Korea’s largest and most premium corporate law firm, and filed for review before the National Labor Relations Commission.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260402905034/en/

The union does not view this as a minor welfare dispute. It is difficult to justify a company with $1.3 billion in operating profit contesting a $10,000 matter (about $66 per worker for 150 contract workers) rather than accepting the outcome. The core issue is the decision to exclude contract workers over such a trivial cost, and then aggressively defend that discrimination instead of correcting it.

While the company reportedly argued the gift was a discretionary CEO benefit, the union stated that treating a negotiated benefit as unilateral generosity reflects a tendency to view people as costs, not organizational members.

The union added this raises broader concerns about human rights and ESG credibility. Excluding workers based on employment status and fighting labor rulings is inconsistent with the company's publicly promoted ESG values. Furthermore, the union warned that management's pattern of making such irrational decisions is driving labor-management relations into a structural conflict. True ESG credibility requires workplace fairness and respect for human dignity.

Jaesung Park, President of the Samsung Biologics Labor Union, said, “The amount at issue may be small, but the discriminatory mindset revealed is not. Such repeated irrational decisions are destroying foundational trust and creating a structural crisis in our labor relations. What the company needs now is not a determination to fight a small cost to the end, but the common-sense decision to correct discrimination and treat people as members of the organization.”

A written judgment from the Labor Relations Commission confirming that Samsung Biologics discriminated against a fixed-term employee regarding holiday benefits.