Ball Don't Lie - NBA

Ball Don't Lie

Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:41 am EST

Video: Bynum's hard foul sends Gerald Wallace to hospital

By J.E. Skeets

Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace was hospitalized Tuesday night with a possible collapsed lung and fractured rib. He was injured in the fourth quarter of the 'Cats' double-overtime victory over the Lakers when Andrew Bynum nailed G-Dub to the floor on a drive to the net. Bynum was called for a flagrant foul.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of people are calling the foul dirty and for Bynum to be suspended indefinitely. [Insert dramatic "sigh" SFX here.] For the umpteenth time, it's called professional basketball, folks — freak, unfortunate injuries can happen. (At least, until we start wrapping players in bubble wrap.)

As Ziller notes, it looks like Bynum missed his rotation and tried to make up ground fast to save face with Coach Jackson. He reached out with his arm to wrap up him, Wallace hit the key much faster than anticipated, chest meets elbow, ouch. Was it lazy defense by Bynum? Yes, no doubt. But malicious? Please ...

Injury Update: "Wallace was diagnosed with having 30-40 percent of his left lung collapsed and a non-displaced fracture of the fifth rib following a CT-Scan at Centinela Hospital in Los Angeles. Wallace had a chest tube inserted into the lung to help restore it to functional capacity, but will remain in the hospital over the next 48 hours for observation." Get well soon, Crash. 

Related: YouTube of the day

digg delicious
more

620 Comments

Post a Comment
  1. Roger Mason Jr. = Hero
    1. Posted by Roger Mason Jr. = Hero Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:09 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    I would agree. Although the elbow is bad, I think Rick Bonnell overreacted a bit.
    I didn't watch, but was Bynum ejected?
  2. Lajames W
    2. Posted by Lajames W Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:06 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    He went elbow first period. It may not be malicious in Hockey but it is when a guy is in the air. I am a Bynum fan but this was lazy and dirty. He looked frustrated that Wallace was able to blow by his defender.
  3. JMVandal (Formerly James M)
    3. Posted by JMVandal (Formerly James M) Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:53 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    No he was not ejected. For the ejection, it would have to be a flagrant 2.
    The official rule for flagrant 2 is "A flagrant foul-penalty (2) is unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent. It is an unsportsmanlike act and the offender is ejected immediately. "
    This is opposed to a flagrant 1, which is just unnecessary contact. It wouldn't surprise me if the league took a look at this and assessed a flagrant 2.
    I think it's an unfortunate foul, but not one that had any ill-intent or malice.
  4. Filthy Phil
    4. Posted by Filthy Phil Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:20 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    bynum wasn't rejected, and i'm not calling for his head, but it was a definte flagurant foul. he didn't even go after the ball or try to put his body in a position, in fact he turned as if to put his back side in him, lazy or not those fouls are dangerous.
  5. Jason
    5. Posted by Jason Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:06 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Of course it's a dangerous foul,that's why it was a flagrant foul. Nobody who calls for Bynum to not be suspended is arguing it isn't a flagrant, just that the intent wasn't there, nor was it excessive to the point which it needs to be made an example of. It was called correctly, and nothing further should come of it because you can't fouls by whether or not they hurt someone, too often freak injuries or landing happen in basketball for that.
  6. William
    6. Posted by William Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:50 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Why does everyone apologize so freaking hard for the Lakers? Even people who aren't fans of that team do so.
    If this was KG or some other Celtics player, there would be a tsunami of bloggers/talking heads/fans calling for blood.
    It was a dirty play -- no attempt on the ball was made -- and Bynum should be punished accordingly. You can't have players leading with their elbows in order to stop a play. Don't give me this "oh, he was just late to rotate" crap, either. Even the Lakers' announcers conceded that Bynum made no play on the ball.
    Maybe we should all go visit Skeets, play a few games, and whack him in the face with a chair every time drives to the basket. It'd be cool by him, because only freak injuries happen in basketball, according to him.
  7. xangoir
    7. Posted by xangoir Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:52 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    he should be suspended and the ref fined as well for not tossing bynum.
    the ref that called flagrant foul on kyle lowry last night for going hard at the ball should also be fined. lowry didn't even make contact.
  8. Jacob S
    8. Posted by Jacob S Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:27 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    When someone is in the air like that you just wrap their arms, I tore my acl when someone hit me in the air like that. I hate the Lakers but I don't think that was dirty, just dumb.
  9. the REAL Headless Chicken
    9. Posted by the REAL Headless Chicken Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:12 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Viktor, you're mistaking Skeets here. He said, freak injuries can happen, not that only they happen in basketball. So, that's no defense of the foul here, it's trying to -unnecessarily - judge whether dirty or not. Upon first seeing it I thought it wasn't that bad, but in the replays that's a little too much laziness and mistimed behavior there, too much bad luck for Wallace. To me, a flagrant two. Indefinite suspension? No. Bynum was just about grossly negligent with his elbow, maybe reckless. That should not go with any player.
  10. Dios N
    10. Posted by Dios N Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:43 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    I'm with Viktor on the chair smashing into the face bit. Doesn't have to be Skeets, but he's definitely a candidate. It's nice to see someone hasn't forgotten about the time honored tradition of breaking things.
  11. Dorian H
    11. Posted by Dorian H Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:42 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    relax people.
    if this was about 20 years ago, it would be a normal shooting foul.
    so just get over it, wallace will be ok
  12. s v e n
    12. Posted by s v e n Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:28 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    I wish I could say I was surprised. But thats the Zen master for ya. Doesn't matter how you win, being lazy and fouling unnecessarily hard will win games. Another reason why I hate the Lakers.
  13. bob hope
    13. Posted by bob hope Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:33 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    it's not flagrant 2 that's for sure.
  14. Kizzle
    14. Posted by Kizzle Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:56 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    That was a dirty elbow, I don't care what way you look at it. Although I have to agree with the column that, it is basketball, and these things happen. I wouldn't think that Bynum deserves anything other than maybe a fine or something. Anything beyond that would be excessive.
  15. Charming Devil
    15. Posted by Charming Devil Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:15 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    The Big fella has been hearing people call him soft since his enter the league. A few monetarists games. A dirty foul. People aren't calling him soft anymore. To be bad it came at Wallace's expense. But no doubt about it the big fella in LA is sending the league a message.
  16. jeezee10
    16. Posted by jeezee10 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:31 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Flagrant foul was not called because the refs were intimidated by the Lakers.
  17. Thumper E
    17. Posted by Thumper E Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:08 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    remember when Horford whacked TJ Ford in the head? he did that to block a shot! missed the ball and caught TJ's head on the downswipe and he was called for a flagrant 2.
    on the other hand, here we have Bynum who should've at least gone for the ball but instead goes in arms down and elbows up. what kinda basketball play is that?! this reminds me of Lamar Odom tackling Ray Allen and later on saying that he went for the ball. what bullshhhh. apologists should be ashamed of themselves.
  18. Joe G
    18. Posted by Joe G Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:16 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Maybe it wasn't malicious, but it was incredibly stupid. Bynum's a young kid and needs to learn that kind of thing just can't happen. A few game suspension should do it.
  19. curtis
    19. Posted by curtis Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:18 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    This was a flagrant foul of the lazy variety instead of malicious kind. If you're going to intentionally foul somebody, wrap them up, don't throw an ill-advised elbow.
  20. Thumper E
    20. Posted by Thumper E Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:08 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    and to the one who said that if KG did this, everyone would be calling him a classless punk who has fake intensity and all that, i completely agree.
    and you, the one sitting on your computer reading this, don't you deny it!
  21. Trifecta37
    21. Posted by Trifecta37 Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:59 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    It's a bad foul. Simple as that. If he does get suspended, so be it. It's up to Sterny to decide. By the way, KD or JE... out of NBA.com, espn.com and you guys, you were the only one to put the Lakers #1 in your power rankings... and then they lost! GASP
  22. B.A.D.
    22. Posted by B.A.D. Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:19 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Skeets, I think you may be a little naive on your stance. Your elbow will never provide you with the best reach, so if Bynum was just trying to recover quickly, his hand would have arrived first. Would you think differently if a weak side defender arrives in time, only, to take a guy's legs out on a dunk?
  23. jese
    23. Posted by jese Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:33 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    I watched the game, the foul and the replays, it seemed that the arm that hit wallace was more straight than an elbow shot, it is when wallace fell that he landed hard on the same side as the foul. I'm not discounting the timing, or pain he probably endured but a fall like that could have been the injury.
  24. McSwollenvich
    24. Posted by McSwollenvich Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:13 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Skeets, think of it this way. What would've happened if the teams were reversed and Okafor had the same type of hard foul on Kobe? Okafor would've been immediately kicked out of the game and suspended. No way you can doubt that. The point is this was a completely unnecessary foul by a young and unintelligent player. A suspension is the only way the league can directly express to the players that this type of play is unacceptable.
    Is Gerald Wallace as good of a player as Kobe? Obviously not, but he is the best player on a team that was just starting to get on a bit of a roll. Now the best player on the team is out indefinitely, and I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being for the rest of the season.
  25. Zarik
    25. Posted by Zarik Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:51 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Simply put, even if it wasn't malicious, the Bobcats lost their leading scorer because of Bynum's extreme negligence. For that alone, to be fair, Bynum should be suspended. Tit for tat.

Ball Don't Lie

Add to My Yahoo! RSS

J.E. Skeets

Ball Don't Lie is an NBA blog edited by J.E. Skeets. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

Contributors:
Kelly Dwyer, Rod Benson, Trey Kerby, Dan Devine, Adrian Wojnarowski & Marc J. Spears,

Teams

Customize to follow news and rumors on your favorite teams. [ Sign in ]

Related Photo Gallery

More NBA Photos »

Y! Sports Blogs

Ball Don't Lie Recent Readers

(provided by MyBlogLog)