The NBA is reviewing LaMelo Ball’s trip of Bam Adebayo to decide whether it should be upgraded to a flagrant foul and bring more punishment, with a decision expected before the Charlotte Hornets’ Friday play-in game. The play helped define a 127-126 Hornets overtime win over the Miami Heat, and it left Adebayo on the floor in visible pain.
Adebayo, a three-time All-Star, fell hard after Ball grabbed the back of his left ankle as the Heat center came down from a rebound early in the second quarter. He needed help getting up, walked to the locker room and did not return after Miami listed him as questionable with a lower back injury before ruling him out late in the third quarter. Ball later scored the winning basket with 4.7 seconds left.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra did not hide his view of the play. He said Ball should have been ejected and called it a stupid, dangerous move that did not belong in the game. “I don't think it's cute,” he said. “I don't think it's funny.” He added that Ball “should be penalized for that” and said, “There's no place in the game for that.”
The sequence came early in the second quarter with Miami leading 30-26. Adebayo grabbed a rebound after a Ball layup was blocked, then landed near the baseline as Ball reached in and tripped him while Adebayo’s right leg was in the air. Officials did not call a foul. On the Amazon Prime broadcast, referee Zach Zarba said the play was not eligible to be reviewed because it was not immediately stopped and there was a change of possession.
That explanation may not settle the matter for long. The NBA’s review now centers on whether the contact rises to the level of a flagrant foul and whether Ball should face additional discipline, a step that would put the league’s handling of the sequence under closer scrutiny before Charlotte returns to the floor Friday.
For Miami, the injury changed the game immediately. Jaime Jaquez Jr. started the second half in Adebayo’s place, and the Heat still carried a 54-52 lead into halftime before the game swung all the way to overtime. For Ball and the Hornets, the winning shot sealed the result, but the trip is now the part of the night the league is revisiting.
