{"id":732527,"date":"2026-04-16T17:02:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T17:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/732527\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T17:02:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T17:02:25","slug":"heat-hornets-react-to-nba-ruling-on-uncalled-lamelo-ball-foul-and-how-hell-be-eligible-to-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/732527\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat, Hornets react to NBA ruling on uncalled LaMelo Ball foul, and how he’ll be eligible to play"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI<\/strong> \u2013 In Miami, the NBA’s decision that LaMelo Ball grabbing Bam Adebayo<\/a> was an ejection-worthy flagrant foul didn’t register much of a reaction.<\/p>\n

In Charlotte, the fact that the ruling didn’t include a suspension brought relief.<\/p>\n

Ball will play Friday for the Hornets in their play-in elimination game at Orlando \u2014 the reality that Charlotte coach Charles Lee hoped for, and something that Miami coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t seem to have a problem with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think that he needed to be penalized more moving forward. I don’t think that would make sense,” Spoelstra said Thursday as the Heat held their season-ending meetings \u2014 two days after being eliminated from the postseason with a 127-126 loss in Charlotte<\/a>, a game that Adebayo missed much of after being injured on a play where Ball grabbed at his ankle as he was falling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s a dirty player. I just think, in that moment, all things can be true,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cIt was a dirty play and a dangerous play. It should have been caught at that moment. But it wasn\u2019t and then, you know, you move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The league said Ball made \u201cunnecessary and reckless contact\u201d with Adebayo. Ball was fined $35,000 for the foul, plus another $25,000 for using profanity in a postgame on-court interview.<\/p>\n

The flagrant foul from Tuesday\u2019s game, if called as a Category 2 in real time, would have resulted in Miami being awarded two free throws and possession of the ball \u2014 plus would have led to Ball’s ejection.<\/p>\n

An NBA investigation is standard after such plays; referee Zach Zarba even told a pool reporter Tuesday night that the league would be looking into the play further. The league’s word came late Wednesday night, and only then could Lee exhale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the league handed out something that was what they deemed to be fair,” Lee said in Charlotte on Thursday before the team’s flight to Orlando. “And we\u2019re glad that we still have him going on to the next game. I know he never has the intent to try to hurt anybody out there on the court. But I’m glad everything\u2019s kind of settled now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Per NBA rules, the Heat could not challenge the ruling on the play because no foul was called. Play continued, leaving no opportunity for a replay review. Adebayo was diagnosed with a lower-back contusion as a result of the fall.<\/p>\n

It’s at least the second time Ball has been involved in such a play with Adebayo. During a game at Miami in January 2024, when Ball grabbed at Adebayo\u2019s leg as the Heat star was running to the other end of the court. Adebayo stumbled but did not fall.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NBA<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2013 In Miami, the NBA’s decision that LaMelo Ball grabbing Bam Adebayo was an ejection-worthy flagrant foul…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":732528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[46139,131689,89138,57189,1260,62,67,132,68,301731],"class_list":["post-732527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-bam-adebayo","tag-charles-lee","tag-erik-spoelstra","tag-lamelo-ball","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-zach-zarba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116415466963306927","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}