People are getting caught up in the grey area between intentional and reckless. Wade did not intentionally injure Rondo, but he did engage in reckless behavior. Normally, nobody gets hurt and it's playoff basketball and we forget about it because the physicality of playoff basketball engenders some recklessness. But when somebody acts reckless and an injury results, there should be consequences.
KG's elbow to QRich's face in the 2010 playoffs illustrated the difference between recklessness and inflicting intentional harm. KG didn't 'intentionally' elbow QRich in the face, but he did recklessly throw an elbow that landed on somebody's head, and for that he was ejected and suspended for the next game. It wasn't intentional, but it was reckless and since somebody was hurt there had to be consequences to that recklessness (even though QRich was the instigator in that incident).
The difference between the two incidents illustrates how perception about certain players informs one's reaction. When KG elbowed QRich, ESPN slo-mo-ed every camera angle they had until they found the footage that showed KG's elbow. The officials took 15 minutes to review everything. KG was ejected and the league office had no choice but to suspend him for the next game. In game 3 on Saturday, the broadcast team choose not to focus on Wade's behavior, but instead on the severity of the injury. No discussion of Wade's role in the injury, no slo-mo replays showing Wade sweeping Rondo's legs out from under him (using a commonplace MMA move), and no connection was made between Wade's chippy play in this series and how it finally resulted in someone getting hurt. ESPN's decision not to play up that angle meant that there wasn't the kind of public outcry that followed KG's elbow (and remember, ESPN is on record as pre-determining story lines before each game in pre-game production meetings, and then starts playing up this or that story line depending on what happens during the game). You wanna know why? The "KG is a punk" or "KG is a dirty player" story line is a well-established ESPN talking point, whereas the same story line as applied to DWade has never been developed.
Just think about it this way: if KG gets 'tangled up' with Lebron and Lebron ends up dislocating an elbow, do you really think ESPN would have completely ignored KG's role in that injury? Hell no, Lebron would have been driven to the hospital and KG would have been ejected.
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Now, I'd never recommend that anyone intentionally injure another player. That's not basketball. What I would advocate is making a very physical play on the ball the next time Wade tries to drive the rim, not something that injures Wade, but something that makes him think twice about driving the lane next time. That's how you respond to chippy play--in kind with similarly chippy play.
Topic: I change my mind. Someone needs to foul Wade hard. Ridiculous comments. (Read 17536 times)