Arron Afflalo: Denver Nuggets Guard Suspended for Elbow
Arron Afflalo physically expressed some of his frustration Friday night against Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward by delivering a blatant elbow to the former college star's head.
Afflalo was handed a one-game suspension for his actions, according to Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk.
It was supposed to be your basic box-out from the Denver Nuggets' guard, but he decided to take it to a different level. After the two jockeyed briefly for position, Afflalo suddenly was flustered enough to deliver a shot to Hayward's head.
This was a dirty play from an unlikely source. Nevertheless, the suspension was warranted. I wouldn't have been upset if it was two games instead of one.
Violence on the floor or field, other than football, hockey and some other sports, should never be seen by professionals. I could understand an elbow being thrown when a player is getting hounded by two or three players, but this was a blatant attempt to injure Hayward.
It's unacceptable.
Afflalo knows that you can't do that sort of thing in basketball. He simply lost his cool for a moment and had a lapse in judgment. The Nuggets were getting rocked by the Jazz on the road and nothing was going right.
It was an error that I'm sure we won't see again from Afflalo.
Utah went on to win the game, 121-102. Afflalo finished with 14 points on 3-of-9 shooting.
