Outside the Box

Photo courtesy of Sportsgrid

First things first, this is only indirectly related to the Cavaliers, as I, along with the entire city of Cleveland and the entire Cavs fan base is still rooting for the Heat to be bounced from the playoffs. If you fall under one of those categories and you say it's in the past and you're over it, that's a flat out lie. With that said, enjoy.


In so far, the worst showing of the playoffs, the all of a sudden classless Dwyane Wade lost his cool (and probably lost the game as a result) and fouled Darren Collison when he didn't have the ball. The officials blew the whistle right away and issued a flagrant foul on Wade.

But that isn't where the drama began, let's back up a few seconds. Wade went to the basket, where Dahntey Jones was waiting. Jones went straight up, arms in the air, in other words good defense. Wade stood on the floor pouting before a few possessions later when a fast break attempt for Indiana happened. Wade sprinted the length of the floor tackling Collison, because, well, who knows why he would do something like that.

Had it been Mario Chalmers or Shane Battier or Ronnie Turiaf that fouled Collison, you better believe it would have been a flagrant 2, resulting in a 2-game suspension. But no, it was Dwyane Wade. David Stern knows he needs the Heat for ratings. Stern knows the Heat can't beat Indiana without Bosh and Wade. It sickens me that he's getting a slap on the wrist for this.

This foul immediately made me think of Jason Smith. Smith ran the length of the court and tackled Blake Griffin. Sound familiar?

Well it is familiar, it's this same foul down to the letter, except Griffin actually had the ball. The result of Smith's foul was a flagrant 2 foul, an ejection and a two-game suspension. The result of Wade's? None of that.

 How do you justify what he did? How do you justify the lack of a suspension or ejection? How can someone with a big name get a slap on the wrist for an unprovoked foul that could have led to a serious injury?

I'm aware that Griffin's may have looked a tad more brutal, thats because the foul was from one power forward to another, not a shooting guard to a point guard. The bigger guy is going to fall harder. Blake laid on the ground and milked his foul, while Collison, being the true professional that he is, got right up and walked in the opposite direction of Wade.


Smith was no different, so how can this not be the same penalty?


That's right because Wade's name means too much to the NBA, and Collison's, not enough. He didn't foul one of the superstars of the game, and he doesn't come off the bench. That's got to be it, it's the only thing I can think of anyways.


Stern needs to step in and get this right, because it's a precedent the NBA does not want to set.






In case anyone missed either of these calls, here they are:


Wade on Collison:





Smith on Griffin: