LeBron James Vows to 'Protect' Himself After Being Tackled by Jonas Valanciunas

As the regular season enters its final stretch and postseason position battles intensify, NBA players are leaving the white gloves at home.

No one is more acutely aware of this shift in tenor than LeBron James, who became the object of another flagrant foul Wednesday night during the Cleveland Cavaliers' 120-112 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

The incident occurred late in the third quarter when Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas intercepted a driving James in the paint. It was a textbook wrap-up—a real heads-up, Luke Kuechly-style play—with Valanciunas using both arms to ensure full stoppage.

James crashed to the floor. He did not accept Valanciunas' offer of a hand.

Officials would assess Valanciunas a flagrant-1 for the takedown, which, after James Harden's groin kick on Sunday, marks the second non-"basketball play" James has absorbed in his last three games.

According to ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin, the Cleveland forward told reporters after the game he would consider doing more to protect himself from overly aggressive plays:

"

Maybe I got to protect myself a little bit more, too. ... I don't want to get too much involved in it because I don't want to cry about it, but it's a lot of plays that are just not basketball plays. ... And I've said it before, it's just not basketball plays. But the referees, they take care of it. They decide what [type of foul] it is or not. That's what we got rules for. And for me, I need to maintain my focus and understand how important the game is, but at the same time, protect myself as well.

"

Valanciunas says there was no malice aforethought in his actions, according to McMenamin.

"I wasn't trying to hurt him," Valanciunas said. "I was just trying to stop him from dunking the ball, and I was just protecting the rim, and that's it. I was just doing my job, protecting the rim, and it doesn't matter how. ... An easy foul is not going to work on that player."

Nope. On the way to the rim, a backhoe or form tackle are about the only things that can reliably stop James.

In the open court, however...well, you can make do with smaller artillery.

Dan is on Twitter waiting for Rex Ryan to sign Valanciunas to a two-year contract.