Believe Your Eyes, LaMelo Ball Tripped Bam Adebayo On Purpose

LaMelo Ball hit the game-winner Tuesday night to send the Charlotte Hornets past the Miami Heat 127-126 in the Play-In Tournament. But the shot everyone will be talking about wasn't a jumper — it was the trip that knocked Bam Adebayo out of the game and may have changed the outcome entirely.

Early in the second quarter, after his drive was disrupted by Simone Fontecchio, Ball hit the deck. And before he got back up, he made sure Adebayo went down too. With Bam on one leg trying to save a live ball and push the break, Ball reached out and swept his leg — sending the All-Star center airborne. Adebayo's tailbone absorbed the fall. He left the game and never came back.

Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra did not mince words after the final buzzer. "I don't think it's cute," Spoelstra said. "I don't think it's funny. I think it's a stupid play. It's a dangerous play... Somebody has got to see that. He should've been thrown out of the game for that."

By rule, Spoelstra has a case. The NBA defines a Flagrant 2 foul — ejection-worthy — as "unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent." The officials didn't see it. No flagrant was called. Ball stayed in the game.

And he made them pay. From the point of the trip (10:58 left in the second quarter) through the final buzzer, Ball posted nine assists and was plus-11 — every other Charlotte starter was a minus over that stretch. His slow-dribble, lull-you-to-sleep handle set up two pivotal late drives, including the walk-off winner.

Heat fans will argue — fairly — that none of that happens with Bam in the game. Adebayo's presence in the fourth quarter and overtime could have easily flipped the result. And that's exactly what makes this play so corrosive: it didn't just injure an opponent, it may have decided a playoff-seeding game.

Ball apologized after the final buzzer and said it wasn't intentional.

Whether you believe him or not, the NBA should review it. If the league finds it was deliberate, a suspension looms. If it wasn't, it was still reckless enough to end another star's night in a winner-take-all game.

The Hornets advance. But this one won't be forgotten quietly.

But Miami still had chances

As Spoelstra pointed out, the officials didn't see it. And even if they had, there's a "he was in the heat of the moment" argument that the trip was merely "unnecessary."

The result of the play was terrible. Having Bam obviously could've changed the outcome of the game. His absence and the reason for it marred what was an otherwise thrilling affair.

But for lack of a better description, the "right" team won this game. Charlotte had the second-best net rating in the NBA from January 22 to the end of the season. Miami was 14th over the same stretch. One team is on the way up. The other needs a fresh start. The Hornets are likelier to give the Detroit Pistons a real series than the Heat were.

And the other side of the LaMelo experience was a big part of why Charlotte ultimately won.

His shooting (12-of-31 from the field and 2-of-16 from deep) was abysmal, but from the point of the trip (10:58 left in the second) to the end of the game, Ball had nine assists and was plus-11. Every other Hornet starter over that stretch was a minus.

And Ball's unorthodox, lull-you-to-sleep dribble package set up two crucial late drives, including the eventual game-winner (it also almost cost Charlotte the game with a near-eight-second violation and turnover).

Heat fans will insist he shouldn't have been in the game to make that last play. And again, they have a real argument.

But Ball apologized after the game and said it wasn't his intent to bring Bam down.

And now his team, which he's helped develop into perhaps the most exciting in the league with his TikTok-friendly playmaking, has a shot against the winner of the Orlando Magic-Philadelphia 76ers game to go to the playoffs.

If they get there, the Pistons will be heavy favorites. Detroit's physicality could be the ultimate karma for what Spoelstra described as a "stupid," "dangerous" play.

But for months, up to and including Tuesday, Ball and the Hornets have proven they have to be taken seriously by everyone (even if some of LaMelo's individual plays might leave you scratching your head).