Tyrus Thomas, Paul Silas Had To Be Separated After Locker-Room Altercation, According To Report

Charlotte Bobcats head coach Paul Silas and forward Tyrus Thomas reportedly had to be separated from one another in the locker room after Sunday's loss to the Boston Celtics, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

According to the report, Silas became incensed at Thomas for chatting with Celtics players on the court. Thomas snapped at his coach and stood up when Silas warned him that he could be suspended for talking back. Silas then pushed Thomas back into his locker stall. Players intervened immediately, and no punches were thrown, according to sources.

Bobcats general manager Rod Higgins confirmed that the incident did take place, and that both men involved have already been fined.

"There was an incident," Higgins said. "We handled it internally and talked to both the player and the coach and moved on. End of story."

One source explained the situation further to Yahoo! Sports.

"Silas hates losing to the Celtics, and Paul was even angrier that he thought [Thomas] was acting buddy-buddy with some of their guys," one source said. "That's what got it going. But Paul was yelling at him over his salary, over what they have left to pay him. But it started with him saying, hey, he could live with the losing, but you're going to be buddy-buddy as they're beating your ass too?"

It is safe to say that the Bobcats locker room has not been a very happy place this season. The team owns the NBA's worst record at 7-53 overall, and is currently mired in a 17-game losing streak with only six games left in the regular season. Further repercussions from the incident could be forthcoming.

For more on Thomas, Silas and the Bobcats, head over to the SB Nation blog Rufus On Fire.