LaMelo Ball continues to make headlines for his controversial play during the Play-In tournament matchup between the Charlotte Hornets and the Miami Heat at the Spectrum Center on Tuesday.
His actions that led to Heat superstar Bam Adebayo’s exit from the game saw major backlash from the Heat unit and the franchise faithful. However, former players and analysts have mixed views about the incident. One of them was three-time NBA champion Danny Green.
3-Time NBA Champion Sides With LaMelo Ball After Guard Gets Called Out for ‘Intentional’ Play
Speaking on the latest episode of the No Fouls Given podcast, Green leaned toward Ball’s side of the story. He believed the Hornets guard’s actions were not intentional. A sharp contrast after Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra lashed out at the star during the postgame presser.
“But I don’t think LaMelo’s… like his actions were intentional. I don’t think it was an intentional try to hurt somebody type of play, you know? I think he was falling. I think it was kind of, I’m gonna say natural.”
Adebayo was forced to exit the game in the second quarter with a lower back injury. Ball grabbed his leg when he was already on his way down to the ground on a loose ball. What baffled Spoelstra was how no foul was called by the referees. “Somebody has got to see that. He should have been thrown out of the game for that, he said, per The Athletic.
“There’s no place in the game for those kinds of shenanigans,” Spoelstra said. “It wasn’t needed. (Ball) I was frustrated, and I think he felt like he got fouled, so he took the liberty of yanking somebody. That should be penalized.”
The controversial sequence began with 11:10 remaining in the second quarter. Heat’s Simone Fontecchio blocked a Ball floater, and Adebayo saved the ball from going out of bounds. The center pushed it back to Fontecchio to save the possession, by
With 11:10 remaining in the second quarter, Ball attempted a floater, but it was blocked by Miami’s Simone Fontecchio. Adebayo saved the ball from going out of bounds, sending it back to Fontecchio to save the possession. The latter made contact with Ball, who fell to the hardwood, but he pulled Adebayo’s leg while coming down, resulting in the center taking a hard fall.
In the end, the play-in skirmish headed on a wild note with both teams trading buckets till the OT buzzer. Charlotte won 127-126 to send the Heat packing with Ball notching up a 30-point, 10-assist double-double. Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller chipped in with 28 and 23 points, respectively.
As for Adebayo, he exited after playing just over 11 minutes to finish with six points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Davion Mitchell led with a team-high 28 points, while Tyler Herro had 23 points. Andrew Wiggins played a solid hand with 27 points.
