Last night the L.A. Clippers played the Oklahoma City Thunder in Los Angeles. The Clips won the game 111 to 103 but the final score nor Blake Griffin's dunk was the highlight of the game. In the second quarter of last night's game, Griffin got a rebound and was fouled by Serge Ibaka on the shot. As the play ended, Griffin and Ibaka's arms got tangled up. Matt Barnes came to the aid of Griffin by pushing Ibaka. This resulted in a scrum with coaches and officials breaking it up. After a long discussion by the referees and having to listen to Jeff Van Gundy vacillate over the entire situation, the final decision was to eject Ibaka and Barnes, and give Griffin a technical foul. Griffin and Ibaka have history as Ibaka intentionally hit Griffin in a very sensitive area during a game last season. Ibaka was fined but not ejected from the game.
Basketball communities say that Griffin is a little "soft" but he definitely did not back down from this interaction. I don't know if you can call any man who is 6'9" and 250 lbs a little soft but I think some of these players are just showing bravado and have no intention of ever seeing any real conflict.
The worst part of the event was after the game. Barnes tweeted something that given a little time to clear his head, I'm sure he wouldn't have done it. The tweet reads, "I love my teammates like family, but I'm DONE standing up for these n---as! All this s--- does is cost me money. …"
I say to all involved that you are playing the GAME of basketball while being handsomely compensated. Relax, enjoy yourself, and go play the game.
Wow! Some players really need to chill out. Sometimes I think that players lose sight of the spirit of the game. They forget that their sport is supposed to be enjoyed. Instead, they sometimes take it too far or become too competitive. I also agree that they get very handsomely compensated. Compared to most people's incomes, they should be very satisfied.
ReplyDeleteI was watching this game which was quite coincidental being that i never watch NBA games. I saw how the play resulted and I thought that Ibaka was completely out of line in this situation. Griffin didn't seem to intend any harm and Ibaka took the situation out of hand and pushed him. Barnes tried sticking up for a teammate which wasn't necessary in my opinion because the situation was already coming to an end. I agree with both you and Carrie, these guys need to realize that they are paid role models and need to start acting like it.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is why I do not really like the sport of basketball. A bunch of grown men crying about stupid little things. They need to take a step back and remember what it is like to play the game for fun. There are many other people in the world that play basketball daily and do not get paid for it like they do, but they enjoy themselves. If they get to play, have fun, and do what they love to do and get paid what they get paid they should not be complaining about the stupid little arguments and the fines they have to pay because they wanted to get involved in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI was watching this game (only because the Lakers weren't on TV). I think this whole situation was blown out of proportion and that it should have been handled differently. These little scums happen all the time in sports in general, and they are to be expected. Athletes are naturally competetive and passionate about what they do. This whole situation to me is not about a little push that happened, but more about how the officials acted in accordance to what happened. Yes fouls should have been given to show that they won't tolerate this type of thing, but no one should have been ejected. Every single game I have watched this year of the NBA I have seen a flagarant or intentional foul given. Sorry, but there is such a thing as a good foul, and I feel that the officials are taking this aspect out of the game. Now don't get me wrong I don't think it is ok to take someone's head off or something malcious, but as a sports fan I have seen things MUCH WORSE than this incident that resulted in nothing, let alone EJECTIONS. I just think that this situation should have been handled differently, and no one should have been ejected. By the officials ejecting the players, this caused all the controversy. Otherwise this would have just been another little scrum that everyone forgot about a day after it happened.
ReplyDeleteWhen I play on a team, I treat that team as a family. When you come after one of those members, I am usually not too happy about it. I will always stick up for my teammates and if getting a fine was it, I wouldn't be too mad about it. I think he just needs to relax and realize he's playing the game. Basketball has fouls and people who play dirty (as in any sport) If a fight breaks out, then it happens. If I got to play the game I loved for a living, I don't think I would be to upset about a fine.
ReplyDeleteAlways have disliked Matt Barnes but even more so after this incident. I am a big OKC fan so i may be a little biased haha. but i do enjoy a bit of scrappy basketball. this however was too far! they accidentally got there hands tied up and Barnes took it too far. steamed the thunder lost the game though KD played well.
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