Last night's playoff game between the Heat and Pacers was more tense than a Basketball Wives reunion episode, and Dwyane Wade exhibited some very un-Wade like sportsmanship when he got called on a flagrant foul for colliding with the Pacers' Darren Collison. Some are calling for a suspension, but an ESPN reporter says that the NBA will not take Wade out of the series for the Collison collision.
Here's video of the foul.
Sure, just about everyone on the court went into diva mode last night. Danny Granger got fouled out of the game, and got in a heated head-to-head with LeBron that led to the two having to be separated. But we don't like seeing Wade resorting to that shit. Not only because it feeds the "Heat are super villains" meme, but because we don't like seeing frustration getting the better of a player.
"The NBA will not upgrade or further punish Dwyane Wade for his flagrant foul on Darren Collison last night," reports ESPN's Brian Windhorst on Twitter.
Though, some detractors are comparing Wade's foul to a flagrant foul the Hornet's Jason Smith pulled on the Clipper's Blake Griffin during the regular season. Smith ended up getting called on a Flagrant Foul-2 and was suspended for two games.
The differences between a Flagrant Foul-1 and Flagrant Foul-2 are often left up to the ref, but looking at the NBA rules its hard to argue that Wade was guilty of a 2:
A flagrant 1 is unnecessary contact. This is usually when a defensive player swings and makes hard contact with the offensive player or makes hard contact and then follows through. A flagrant foul 2 is unnecessary and excessive contact. This usually has a swinging motion, hard contact, and a follow through.Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
