[Highlight] Eric Spoelstra on Bam’s injury: “I don’t think that belongs in the game, tripping guys. He should have been thrown out of the game for that”
Tripping is dirty. Doesn’t matter if they “intended” to hurt their target or not. Any reasonable person should know tripping can cause falling which can cause injury.
Agreed. Hopefully the league does the right thing and suspends him the next game because it was insane he was allowed to continue in this one.
Knowing the league, this is going to be ignored or just a fine. They do not diminish their product in the playoffs by suspending players.
Draymond?
If this was a 7 game series and the hornets just went up 3-1 I’d say it is far more likely lamelo would be suspended
LOL true
Hell, he might even get suspended for TWO games!
Depends who they’re playing.
Draymond wasnt suspended like that, he got a tech which put him over the limit and resulted in an automatic one game suspension. I guess the NBA could have rescinded the tech but it was obviously a technical foul.
I’ll be pedantic because there is a bit of a distinction: He was suspended for his fourth playoff fragrant foul, not tech accumulation. You can get up to 7 techs in the playoffs before a suspension occurs (after the 7th), but the flagrant threshold is naturally lower. It’d be impressive to get 7 techs in a single postseason, but somehow it’s more impressive (derogatory) to pull one flagrant per playoff series, and have none of them rescinded on appeal.
IIRC there was even some uproar about the fact that he didn’t get that fourth flagrant and suspension during the OKC series, that the NBA went lenient to avoid having to suspend him during critical games etc…only to have to suspend him for what would be an even more critical game, because he did it again.
Yeah, I don’t remember the details but I remember very well that 10 years ago people were MAD mad that Draymond avoided suspension in the OKC series.
That’s when he kicked Steven Adams in the balls and the league put together a video of him kicking like that without hitting other people in the balls to justify it.
That is where the “natural shooting motion” meme came from
https://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/Report-NBA-spares-Green-of-Game-4-suspension-7940980.php
Just found this article. Draymond kicking Steven Adams in the nuts was actually upgraded to a Flagrant 2 after the game, but people thought he should have been suspended for a game as well.
I think his first flagrant that playoffs was the worst because there was absolutely no point in doing it and they already lost the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIWzTBskqEk
While Draymond was important, he was not the best player on that team.
Also, if all we’ve got is one example for a decade ago, then it kind of proves the point that the league hates suspending guys for playoff games.
Draymond was also suspended to stomping on Sabonis (who only got a technical foul for grabbing Draymond’s foot).
Apparently people only care if Sabonis successfully trip and/or cause injury. I was tripped before and tweaked my knee as I fell and roll. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t condone stomping but I sure do think about it that I should have when it happened to me.
That wasn’t a tripping though.Technical foul is fine.
Eh draymond deserves a trip or a few
And that one example was like the straw that broke the camel’s back after conveniently ignoring all his dirty shit for so long.
And if anything, the NBA was for it because it helped prolong the series
Yeah, this is all true. The overall background context makes this case much different from if they will suspend Lamelo or not
If history is any indication, they won’t. LaMelo, a player with a top 15 selling jersey, playing for the Hornets (one of the biggest stories of the NBA this season, for a chance to face the Pistons in round 1? A matchup that obviously has some beef and everyone remembers the fight from a couple months ago? I’d bet a good amount they’re not suspending LaMelo.
He was our best performer that series tbf, he would have won Finals MVP if we had won that Game 7. He was legitimately insane on both ends of the floor. However, a huge reason we can even say that is because Steph wasn’t at 100%. Obviously otherwise, Steph was the MVP of the team still no doubt… but Draymond was so impactful in 2016 that he was legit like a 1B in that manner.
Made 2nd team All NBA, 10th in MVP voting even despite having Steph as his teammate win the award unanimously overall. Dray’s offensive peak was in 2016, though we don’t know if he could have kept it up longer if KD didn’t show up which took Draymond from being roughly the ~3rd option a lot of the time to the 4th.
He was never the reason people were tuning in.
Well there’s no debating that haha
Terrible example, draymond was an extremely dirty player and should have been suspended many more times than he actually was
IDF Green hit his flagrant foul limit in that series.
Draymond deserved to be suspended multiple times that playoff run before they actually did it.
They bent over backwards to keep Dray in those games.
Draymond should’ve been thrown out in the OKC series
His was an accumulation of technicals, not the same.
Suns fans would vehemently disagree
Suns fans would like a word with Amare getting suspended lol
I think they’re gonna ignore it because it wasn’t called during the game and it can be played off as “an accident” after Lamelo came out and said he didn’t mean it.
But the League really has to come down on plays like this regardless if it was intentional or not; at a minimum, it’s still reckless. If you let it go, players will continue to recklessly and “accidently” play around with opponents’ lower bodies to keep them out of the plays or at least slow them down.
Modern players are already having to deal with a rise in lower body injuries due to the more dynamic start-stop style of play the modern game demands; they shouldn’t also need to be dealing dirty/reckless plays that are aimed at their legs.
The fact it wasn’t called in game is egregious. They need to have a system to review shit like that, especially if it involves an injury due to negligence.
They shouldn’t take into account Lamelo “didn’t mean it.” I could kick you in your balls right now, and tell you I didn’t mean it.
I mean, you say that but if you unintentionally hit someone in the nuts on the court and it doesn’t constitute a foul otherwise they’re not gonna call it. Like if Melo had hit Bam in the nuts on his way down instead of tripping him that probably doesn’t get called because he was a shooter shooting and falling after the shot that is entitled to a certain amount of personal space and incidental contact allowances.
Unpunished, continued playing AND won. Just suspend him honestlyl
Even NFL has a penalty for tripping. Kind of crazy the NBA doesn’t
Um they do? Lol the refs just didn’t enforce it
The NBA has a tripping penalty. Hilariously, the example footage is another Hornets player playing dirty.
Note also that any called foul that could potentially be ruled flagrant, will be reviewed via Instant Replay, to determine if it is a Flagrant 1, a Flagrant 2, a Technical Foul, or a common foul.
…unless the ball changes possession one time, I guess.
I mean it wasn’t a called foul so it doesn’t fit that description of needing to be reviewed. Would need to change the writing of the rules to review a completely missed call.
That’s the folly of NBA reffing you have a ref looking directly down at Bam’s area and the ref calls nothing. These refs at times just don’t seem to know what to look for what actually happens in basketball games .
Haha what are you talking about, of course they know what to look for. Thats why they look the other way when its convenient to sports betting!
>convenient to sports betting
this is the only factor driving league decision-making at this point
The NFL rule is specifically about using the lower leg or foot to obstruct an opposing player.
I think the only disagreement is if it’s a flagrant 1 or flagrant 2. obviously should have been called but i think intention is hard to read into.
Doesn’t have to be intentional to be a 2
most of the time if the player has to leave for injury because of the dirty play it gets upgraded to a flargrant 2
idk if I agree that happens most of the time. I agree it’s happened.
If you try to trip someone they have every right to stomp on your chest as far as I’m concerned
I feel like it’s especially dirty in basketball with the fact they’re all fucking giants
Reasonable.
LaMelo Ball.
Reasonable? Lamelo?
Not calling a foul is fine because it was a huge group on a fast break, but not even reviewing is just dogshit refereeing. Textbook flagrant 2.
Apparently the rules say can’t be reviewed because it changed possession
SVG said it after, stupid ass rule though why not be able to review that
A few years ago, Draymond shoved Donovan Mitchell while a shot was in the air, and the refs missed it. The Cavs made the shot, and Draymond was bringing it up the other way, and Mitchell body checked him in retaliation.
The refs gave Mitchell a common foul and reviewed the previous play and gave Draymond a technical foul—his second, which got him ejected. The refs said that they were allowed to review the previous play because they were reviewing whether Mitchell should get a common foul or a flagrant.
Moral of the story: one of the Heat players should have body checked LaMelo to trigger a review.
https://streamable.com/jghsyk
I’m honestly shocked the heat were just chill with it. Not that it’s right, but you’d think a teammate would have Bam’s back like that
I don’t think any of them saw it.
It was hard to see, bodies everywhere and everyone was looking up at the ball, not down at the feet
With the replay it’s easy to miss it unless you’re looking directly at Bams ankle. It’s not like it was an egregious reach and grab.
Vets like haslem and pj tucker r valuable
They just lost their best player. If they retaliate, it’s a flagrant 2 and they are getting ejected. Then they’d be down two players.
To add to this, any tech/flagrant level foul gives the Hornets at least 1 fta. In a one off game that’s too risky
this iteration of Heat players are good to mellow guys, Except for Myron Gardner. Spo should have let him subbed in and retaliate for Bam.
Dang that’s a deep ass cut. You just find and upload that video too?
I had to stitch together two videos from twitter!
Yes, I’m still seething years later that they gave him a technical (which, by rule, cannot be given for contact during live play) for contact during live play from a previous possession.
so if someone on the heat had started a fight right after that play then it would have been reviewed? NBA rules are whack
But a 3 could get wiped off 20 possessions later
yeah this never made sense to me
They pick and choose what they can review, its ridiculous. Still salty about that max strus 3 being overturned in 2022. Its especially bad wjen they get the review wrong with all the time in the world
They should be able to review during a timeout at least.
Absolutely ludicrous rule . Just punch a guy then quickly change possession before they can call the foul. Its not like they have a video reply they can go back to any time they’d like.
Lamelo rule incoming
NBA finds dumb loop holes that hardly exist all the time for reviews, surprised Adam Silver did cum in his pants at the thought of another commercial break
They’ve literally done that before. They reviewed someone intentionally pushed Draymond and then gave a tech to Draymond because he instigated from like two possessions prior.
There’s definitely precedent for something like it
I thought violent conduct was always reviewable, how stupid.
After finally seeing it, it definitely looked dirty as hell.
I saw a couple of replays with a normal game angle and didn’t see anything egregious, but the angle they showed on the halftime show for Blazers/Suns was incriminating as hell. I like the Hornets and want them in the playoffs but not like that. Spo is 100% correct, easy flagrant 2.
How can you like that team? They are dirty as hell and have a legit wife beater as a starter.
Besides this one play, can you please explain why the hornets are now unilaterally labeled as “dirty as hell?” People just say anything and it’s frustrating because other people just run with it.
Whole team? Nah
He did try to trip Bam like 2 years ago as well though
This is kinda what they do on here
To be clear - I hate Miles Bridges and hate even more that he’s actually a good player. I wish he wasn’t on that team or better yet was out of the league.
Also I don’t really associate this team with dirty play aside from a few instances. Maybe that’s my own perception but that’s just not the reputation they have (unlike the Magic). This game however turned me off of LaMelo from that one play.
Yeah, this is what I keep coming back to. It’s not even remotely a “basketball play.” He’s clearly swiping Bam’s feet out from under him.
The replays are bad. Everyone can see it. The league should suspend him for their next game.
I think what may be the most damning is Melo appears to give Bam’s ankle/heel a squeeze of some sort like he is gripping it.
Yeah and he clearly moved his hands to trip Bam. Thats intentional and dirty as fuck.
Melo had pulled that same move on Bam before in the regular season.
But he said sorry, so we can move on.
And the fucking blind ass ref god knows wtf he’s lookin down at in front of his eyes
Dort tripped Jokic. His ass got thrown out and rightfully so. Same should apply to any clearly intentional trip.
And honestly Dort’s was no more egregious than Ball’s.
Both were clearly intentional, but honestly the extra effort Ball had to go through to literally grab Bams’ ankle and pull it out from under him makes that one even worse imo. No way Ball should have been allowed to keep playing.
Ball’s was much more egregious
Ball’s was way worse, for sure
And Jokic didnt even get injured
Result shouldn’t change the outcome though
I don’t know. You get more time for murder than attempted murder
Makes you think. Murder and attempted murder would be flagrant 2s at worst in the NBA. We live in a society
Murder would be a flagrant 2 unless there was a change of possession right after. Then, can’t be reviewed
Fuck, bro. You’re so right. Lawyers hate this one criminal defense loophole
Makes you think, you’re right
I agree, but if one of the plays is going to get the more severe punishment…. It should probably be the one where someone was injured.
Shouldn’t be about if it sucessfully injures them or not tbf
But he did give one of the hardest death glares we’ve ever seen on the court.
Mf gave that Serbian death stare afterwards and quietly recited Dort’s home address and garage door code
that ref is looking right at the ankle grab too lol wtf
Two points for the ankle pick takedown!
Parlays
Lol possibly. Also likely they know better than to ever eject a star player in the playoffs if they want to keep their careers
These refs just don’t call it like they see it if he wasn’t simply hyper focused on the line - which is also a problem - and actually saw the ankle swipe. A shame for the game
It was dirty, and that play should be reviewable. Missing that call is unacceptable. It was illegal and it changed the trajectory of the game. I’m all for giving officials some leeway on less than obvious calls, but I think the ref closest to the ankle grab should be removed from the rest of the playoffs.
Really did not seem obvious to me in real time. Also pretty sure the ref had a terrible angle, Bam was literally falling into him.
Can’t believe the segment of reddit making excuses for LaMelo, he clearly wraps his hand and fingers around Bam’s foot and pulls, making his leg move up and forward, quickly and awkwardly.
It’s amazing that people have the ability to twist what they see just because of how they feel about a team or a player.
If it weren’t for the hand wrap around the foot you could claim he was just flailing around. But the hand wrap makes it look like a very obvious tripping attempt.
My favorite excuse I’ve seen from Hornets fans is that Lamelo is not mentally capable enough to do it on purpose. Lol.
I’m going to try that with Dort. “I’m sorry, he’s too mentally incompetent and can’t be held accountable for his actions.”
That segment are Hornets fans. Every team tries to justify what their own team goes and try to excuse them of any wrongdoing. I’ve seen people say he was protecting himself because Bam was kicking him or that he was trying to keep Bam up. Anything but admit they may have been eliminated if their star player hadn’t tripped the other team’s star player.
I mean it is better than LaMelo in a vehicle… I’m amazed no one on the Heat checked him before he kills someone leaving the arena
Some of it is homer bias, and that we’re finally doing something after, well, being us, but he in particular has some really weird parasocial fans from living in a panopticon is whole life. He pretty clearly swept his foot.
Its bs if LaMelo is suspended for next game knowing he hit the game winner on us 😂
They keep our pick AND let a suspended player finish the game and hit a GW on us.
The players constantly call out the league for when injuries happen but never wanna call out dirty players for causing injury’s.
This has always been really weird to me.
They go at the league for not stopping it, but then when the moment has passed it seems like all the players say it’s part of the game. It’s almost like an unspoken rule or something.
Yeah
Yep
Yes
Si
Mm hmm
HES DONE IT TWICE SUSPEND THE GUY
Twice to Bam too
SUSPENSION?? Adam, kick him off the tour!
It directly impacted the game. Truly awful look for the NBA here
Tripping doesn’t even cover what Ball did. He intentionally grabbed Bam’s foot and pulled it out from under him. Ankle tackle is more accurate.
I have such a thorn in my paw about LaMelo complaining to the ref when he got touched on the hip while on the rim as Bam laid on the court. There was a time in this league that he wouldn’t have come down on his feet after that dunk.
Robert Parish would have squished Lamelo like a bug for that shit
It sucks cuz hornets are one of the more fun teams to watch but that was 100% a dirty play.
Tbh fuck the hornets anyway employing a woman beater
And in front of their children too. Fuck that guy.
Kon’s always liking racist ass posts on instagram too
A couple years ago Embiid did this to Mitchell Robinson in the playoffs and nothing happened to him. The NBA does not consider this a flagrant 2. Even though it so obviously should be.
I remember that play and it was horseshit at the time, as well. Reckless fouls aimed at players’ legs need to be taken seriously.
Unfortunately, the dirty/reckless players advance, while the players on the other side have to rehab. Green, Bowen, Dort. That’s just how the league is.
Lu Dort is a winner, injury is a weapon and you just got to utilize it at the right time #winning mentality
He aint wrong
Name dropping the refs too was ice cold. Spo is right and he’s gonna have to pay for it.
Well now we can watch Pistons mop the floor with the hornets. Hoping to see a brawl too
They still have to win another game
Un hornets have to beat the 7⁄8 match up. Might not even make it to the playoffs.
They won’t get the 8th seed.
They would still need to get past Orlando or Philly Lmaoo
Lamelo is a piece of shit for tripping Bam. Bridges is a verified wife beater. How could you ever root for the hornets?
Your star player is an idf Zionist, there’s levels to being a shitty person
Don’t know why you are getting down voted for telling the truth
Look who is talking lmao
Your star player was an actual idf soldier lmao
fck the hornets for this
Melo has been doing some questionable shit lately. This isn’t questionable. Clearly a dirty play.
You can actually see the ref watching him do it
i’m happy Charlotte took out Miami but that was bs and Melo should have been ejected. Total bullshit.
Nothing untrue was said
It really tainted the rest of the game.
inb4 hornets fans say Eric Spoelstra doesn’t know ball for implying Lamelo tripped him on purpose and it wasn’t just a common case of a pro athlete completely losing control of their motor functions.
“Looked clean, don’t know what he’s talking about”
-Dort
It was a dirty play but I also dont think lamelo is a dirty player. Its something he shouldn’t have done but I guess he had a brain snap moment
Does the fact that he did the exact same thing to the exact same guy two years ago change your mind?
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/196uql0/highlight_lamelo_ball_grabs_at_bams_leg_as_he/
Damn ok. You came with receipts
He’s right. Absolutely dirty play where Bam can’t really brace himself for. Going at his legs while the man is jumping around could have ended catastrophic. They won’t, but POS should be suspended for that play.
I doubt the Heat forget this next year. I expect there will be repercussions when they meet next.
Lamelo should be suspended
NBA gotta suspend Lamelo. It’s straight up dirty.
Players are willing to injure opponent’s player just to win a game.
Ref: Yep, i don’t see shit, play ball!
Also Ref on SGA: Hey man, you’re trying to touch SGA, that’s a flagrant foul.
Fucking referees.
There are people somehow trying to defend LaMelo’s trip and it’s fucking astonishing.
Blake brought up a good point just now at halftime on Amazon— what would they have even called?Where was everyone when Joel Embiid did this to Mitchell Robinson?!? In a much more hostile and dangerous fashion?!? He got a flagrant 1 & stayed in the game so no way they’re ejecting LaMelo there either way
Where was everyone when Bam injured Randle, Brunson, Robinson, Quickley, and Grimes in one single playoff series in 2023?
If Ball isn’t causing a crash on the road, he’s making players crash to the ground on the court. Yeah, I reached a little for that joke, but you get the point. :)
The refs sold
I submit one Jamal Murray. Guy had a melt down where he screamed at the ref, flashed the money sign, then threw a heat pack on the court during play. All within a span of minutes. Everyone said he would be suspended, and then absolutely nothing happened.
He ain’t wrong.
It’s not like the guy who made a dirty play and didn’t even get a foul for it ended up making the game winning shot or nothing jk
I don’t buy the “accidental”‘claim. These are high Level athletes with amazing body control. The accident may have been his poor decision making. He grabbed Bam’s ankle and pulled it out from under him. A very dirty play with serious injury potential. How would this have gone down if it had happened to Wemby? Curry? In hockey, a dirty play like that often results in teammates responding. What would Charles Oakley have done?
Did Spo have a problem when Wade took down Rondo in 2011 and dislocated his elbow?
Hold on a sec lemme see if I found a Spo interview defending that play… found none.
He should get suspended. No doubt that rises to the level of suspension. I wish there was a way to spin it b/c I’m wildly biased and want to win the next game but that’s dirty and dangerous.
I doubt he gets ejected but bam being in the game changes that outcome
Go to the hornets sub and see them talking nothing about this 😂
wait that ref was right there looking down too lol
dirty play
I actually don’t understand why the ref didn’t call a foul. He was looking directly at Bam’s foot to see if he maintained possession in bounds. Wtf did he see that made it seem like that was unintentional.
Clever how coach Miami shifts responsibility. So many great players, no irony, on his deep team, but they play so poorly that they have to somehow surface from 10th place. At the trade deadline there wasn’t even an attempt to fix his mistakes. In the last regular season game, Miami lost to Charlotte by 30 points. That’s how it is. Instead of Bam, Ware came out, who saved the team until the end, it was he who carried on defense, which is ironic since the coach couldn’t establish a normal relationship with him. So they ejected Ball, who couldn’t hit anything today, and at the most critical moment lost the ball and immediately fouled Herro. His ejection today would only have helped Charlotte
As for intentionality, it’s only in slow motion replay that it seems like you can think something through in a fall in half a second. Yes, they somehow managed to integrate Lamelo into the team, nobody believed he was a team player and could do it, even though he was bad today. But he was stupid and impulsive and remains so, only the grave will fix that. The foul on Bam after the turnover is exactly the same as the foul on Herro after the turnover, there is no intent there in the full sense of the word. Because Lamelo has no brain in the full sense of the word. After all these mistakes, it was only a miracle that Charlotte won, simply because Coby White showed crazy level, plus as always a huge element of randomness, which is always more important than anything
83 tripping would be insane
Holy crap I just watched it and yeah he very very intentionally took his feet out from under him. Insanely dirty
You know it’s bad if even Celtics fans are agreeing with spo 😅
The refs missed some big momentum calls. This was the worse by far. A back court, the travel, I hope they are not going to ref anymore playoff games. PLUS ball ends up hitting the game winning shot. He shouldn’t have even been in the game. Miami was fighting the whole time and were getting killed on the offensive rebounds. Bam could have been the difference.
Insane you can just take the opposing team’s best player out with a dirty play and not get any punishment. Heat got screwed over big time.
God giveth and God taketh
Melo probably did the same thing to his brothers growing up. Maybe that’s why Lonzo has the joints of a 50 year old. /s
Must be related to Grayson