Erik Spoelstra Doesn't Think LaMelo Ball Is 'Dirty Player' After Bam Adebayo Trip in Heat-Hornets
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra doesn't think LaMelo Ball deserved more than a flagrant foul and a fine for tripping Bam Adebayo in Tuesday's play-in elimination game.
Adebayo exited the game, which the Charlotte Hornets later won in overtime, after hitting the ground and suffering a lower back injury.
"I'm not really thinking about that any more," Spoelstra said when asked about the play Thursday. "I said what I had to say about it. I didn't think that he needed to be penalized more moving forward. I don't think that would make sense. I don't think he's a dirty player."
Spoelstra continued: "In that moment, it was a dirty play, and it was a dangerous play. It should have been caught in that moment, but it wasn't, and then you move on."
Spoelstra originally said after the Heat's elimination loss that Ball "should have been thrown out of the game."
Ball was later fined $60,000 and assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 after the NBA decided he made "unnecessary and reckless contact" with Adebayo "that created a significant injury risk."
Had Ball been assessed the Flagrant 2 during the game, he would have been ejected.
He instead remained on the court and went on to play a key role, including by hitting the game-winning shot, in the Hornets' 127-126 win.
Adebayo said Thursday that Ball hadn't reached out to him following the incident.
"There's never been any, like, bad blood between us. ... There's always been good conversations," Adebayo said Thursday. "As far as those incidents, I can't tell you what goes through his mind."
Spoelstra said Thursday, however, that he didn't want to focus on Adebayo's early exit rather than other mistakes the Heat made down the stretch.
The Heat, who held a four-point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation, had multiple opportunities to close out the game before Coby White sent the game to overtime with a late three-pointer.
"I'll be thinking about Coby White's shot right in front of our bench for a while this summer," Spoelstra said. "That was a tough, tough shot, even tougher when I watched it on film than seeing it live. And then the opportunity to get a stop there at the end of OT. We had our opportunities regardless.
"That was a really unfortunate incident, that wasn't caught, wasn't penalized in the moment. But that did not affect our opportunity at the end of the game to close that game out."
Now that they know their lead ball handler won't be suspended, the Hornets will hope to see some more clutch plays from Ball as they prepare to play the Orlando Magic in a Friday night road game that will send the winner into the playoffs.
