If you were of the opinion that the league was somehow cracking down on flagrant fouls this season, then the events of the past week or so might go a long way to change your mind. Andrew Bynum, as you may recall, partially collapsed Gerald Wallace's lung during the Lakers' loss to the Bobcats, and received neither a fine nor a suspension for the flagrant foul that caused the damage. Although the injury sustained by Wallace was a serious one, most thought that Bynum's play was reckless, but not intentionally meant to hurt anybody.
The same cannot be said however, for Kendrick Perkins' hit on Jason Maxiell.
Whether you're a fan of the Celtics or not, there's simply no way you can objectively look at this play and tell me that (a) Perkins was making a play on the ball, or (b) that he wasn't trying to hurt Maxiell. Perkins grabbed Maxiell around the back of the neck, and once he had a hold of him, followed through and threw him to the ground. These are the facts; they are indisputable.
Incredibly, the league office didn't see it that way, and only handed down a $10,000 fine, with no suspension. Perkins said "he wasn't disappointed by the fine since he thought he would get fined worse," which makes him of the same opinion as everyone else in the universe who follows the game of basketball.
I'm not sure what the reasoning is behind the small-ish fine and non-suspension; it would be interesting to hear the league's explanation. But if they're looking to prevent things like this from happening in the future -- or even to prevent a retaliation from the Pistons the next time these teams meet -- it's going to take a lot more than a $10K fine to get that accomplished.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-02-2009 @ 3:53PM
caninescreed said...
Well to me, bynums foul is equally bad. While i am certain he would never mean to collapse a guys lung, he certainly did mean to give Wallace a hard foul. and if you are going to stick your elbow into the chest of a player that is going hard to the basket, you should understand that you could seriously hurt that player, which is what happened. While Perkins foul was obnoxious, I don't feel it was as dangerous because he just kept the guy moving in the direction he was already heading. bynum stoped a guys forward progress with his elbow to the chest. Not cool. Not cool for Perkins either. Have to say I was rather surprised, as I have never see him do anything like that before.
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2-02-2009 @ 4:07PM
GL said...
perkins gave him a hard foul and that's it. he did not try to "hurt" maxiell. come on. he just pushed him on the ground and probably wanted to embarrass him and it was not a classy move but maxiell is a professional athlete. if he was a anemic 14 year old girl then i'd say he was trying to hurt him - but that's nothing more than a shove. it's definitely not nice or cool to do, but that's all it was.
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2-02-2009 @ 5:32PM
Nora said...
Brett and his anti-Celtics posts continue.
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2-02-2009 @ 11:57PM
grover said...
Comparing Bynum's and Perkins' fouls is a bit of a stretch.
It's pretty clear that Bynum was beat by his man and instinctively tried to block the path to the basket. Play like that happen all the time. Unfortunately, in this case, Bynum managed to really whack the guy with his hip and elbow.
Perkins looks like he's trying to pull off a WWF move. He hammers the arm down, nearly headlocks the guy & then follows through, throwing him to the ground.
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