Heat, Hornets react to NBA ruling on uncalled LaMelo Ball foul, and how he'll be eligible to play
MIAMI (AP) — In Miami, the NBA's decision that LaMelo Ball grabbing Bam Adebayo was an ejection-worthy flagrant foul didn't register much of a reaction. In Charlotte, the fact that the ruling didn't include a suspension brought relief. Ball will play Friday for the Hornets in their play-in elimination game at Orlando — the reality that Charlotte coach Charles Lee hoped for, and something that Miami coach Erik Spoelstra didn't seem to have a problem with.
“I didn’t think that he needed to be penalized more moving forward. I don't think that would make sense," Spoelstra said Thursday as the Heat held their season-ending meetings — two days after being eliminated from the postseason with a 127-126 loss in Charlotte , a game that Adebayo missed much of after being injured on a play where Ball grabbed at his ankle as he was falling. “I don’t think he’s a dirty player.
I just think, in that moment, all things can be true,” Spoelstra said. “It was a dirty play and a dangerous play. It should have been caught at that moment.
But it wasn’t and then, you know, you move on. ” The league said Ball made “unnecessary and reckless contact” with Adebayo. Ball was fined $35,000 for the foul, plus another $25,000 for using profanity in a postgame on-court interview.
The flagrant foul from Tuesday’s game, if called as a Category 2 in real time, would have resulted in Miami being awarded two free throws and possession of the ball — plus would have led to Ball's ejection. An NBA investigation is standard after such plays; referee Zach Zarba even told a pool reporter Tuesday night that the league would be looking into the play further. The league's word came late Wednesday night, and only then could Lee exhale.