NBA Commissioner David Stern says the 47 games in suspensions and US$1 million in fines handed out for the brawl between the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets were a warning shot in his bid to eliminate fighting.

Seven players were banned, NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony of Denver receiving a 15-game suspension for shoving one player and punching another in the face at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The teams were each fined US$500,000.

"I was very disappointed," Stern said in a conference call on Monday. "We meet with them (the players), we do it on an ongoing basis and clearly we are not getting through or players just don't want to be restrained.

"I would suggest those players will not have long careers in the NBA. We have made our intention very clear."

The brawl, which came near the end of a 123-100 rout by Denver, led to the ejection of all 10 players on court.

It was the worst NBA incident since players from the visiting Indiana Pacers went into the stands to battle with fans during a game against the Detroit Pistons.

"My concern is for the safety of the players and the fans," said Stern. "When things get out of hand, you cannot predict or project where they're going to go."

HARD FOUL

Saturday's incident was ignited by a hard foul from Mardy Collins on Nuggets guard JR Smith, who was driving to the basket.

"The reality is there are going to be hard fouls and everyone knows the penalty," said Stern.

"Sometimes a player steps over the line and we have a very adequate procedure for that. Flagrant foul ejection, either a suspension of one game, likely two.

"Even when the player who gets fouled harsh jumps up and gets in the face of the person who does the foul, based upon the heat of the moment, you sort of expect that. Then people step in and pull them apart and we go back to playing the best game in the world.

"That's where it's going to stop in the future. What happened on Saturday was it didn't stop there."

Stern said the clubs would feel his wrath if fighting was not stopped.

"Teams will be held accountable for the actions of their employees, management and players alike," he said.

"If you continue to employ employees who engage in these actions your organisation is going to have to pay a price, even beyond suspensions. A lot of people are watching us, many of them are young."