The Miami Heat’s season came to a close Tuesday night after a 127–126 overtime loss to the Charlotte Hornets in the first play-in game between the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds.
However, the biggest controversy from the game came in the first half, when Heat forward Bam Adebayo was forced to exit after injuring his back. The injury occurred when Hornets guard LaMelo Ball grabbed Adebayo’s ankle as he tried to save the ball from going out of bounds, causing him to fall hard onto his back.
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After the game, the NBA upgraded the play to a flagrant foul, and Ball was fined $35,000 for the incident along with an additional $25,000 for swearing during his postgame interview.
He also publicly apologized to Adebayo and said he would try to reach out to him directly, which, as of now, does not appear to have happened.
Adebayo spoke to the media during exit interviews on Thursday, noting that he has yet to hear from Ball and making it clear that, at some point, they will have “a conversation.”
“It didn’t happen … I want it to be out there,” Adebayo said. “At some point I’ll see him again and we’ll have that conversation.”
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra believed the play warranted an ejection at the time, but made it clear during his interview Thursday that he doesn’t view Ball as a “dirty” player and didn’t think further punishment was necessary after officials missed it in the moment.
“I didn’t think that he needed to be penalized more moving forward,” Spoelstra said. “I don’t think that would make sense. I don’t think he’s a dirty player. I just think, in that moment, all things can be true. It was a dirty play and a dangerous play. It should have been caught at that moment. But it wasn’t and then, you know, you move on.”
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