30 Oct 2014

One-match ban too lenient

11:52 am on 30 October 2014

The former Australian basketball star Andrew Gaze fears the "light" one-match NBL ban handed to American star Josh Childress could have negative repercussions throughout the sport.

Childress will miss just one match for the Sydney Kings despite pleading guilty to bringing the game into disrepute for what Gaze has described as "one of the biggest hits ever seen in the NBL".

Touted as the best-credentialled import ever to come to the NBL, Childress - a former NBA forward - charged at Perth's Jesse Wagstaff with his forearm in a heated reaction to a physical screen.

Sydney Kings player Josh Childress

Sydney Kings player Josh Childress Photo: Sydney Kings

An NBL tribunal has cleared Childress of striking with his elbow but banned him for one game and fined him $4,000 for another charge of unduly rough play.

He was fined an additional $4,000 for bringing the game into disrepute.

Gaze says based on the evidence he's seen the suspension is on the light side.

Childress has deactivated his Twitter social media account after copping vicious racial abuse on social media over the incident.

He has expressed remorse over the incident, saying he acted out of character.

"Obviously, it was a feeling of embarrassment, having to walk that long walk back to the locker room, and getting booed and all that stuff. It's not my proudest moment," he said.