Showtime in Orlando
Dwyane Wade’s foul on Kobe Bryant in the All-Star game left him with a broken nose:
During the NBA All-Star game, in what I would call an act of showmanship, Dwyane Wade broke Kobe Bryant’s nose. We didn’t know it, but Kobe suffered a concussion as well.
The game was dull. It looked more like a live version of a dunk contest than an actual competition. Then Wade gave the fans what they wanted — controversy and excitement.
In the third quarter, Kobe sat a few buckets shy of breaking Michael Jordan’s record for career points in the midseason classic. With ball in hand on the wing, Kobe made an aggressive move toward the basket, leaving Wade behind. After losing out, Wade hit Kobe across the face from behind as Kobe went to elevate.
Following the foul, the game gained interest and storylines. Was there going to be retaliation on Wade? Why would Wade foul Kobe so blatantly? Was the bloody nose going to keep Kobe from surpassing MJ?
Hard fouls are part of basketball, but in a game that didn’t have much defense to begin with, are they needed? Wade didn’t even go up to Kobe to check if he was OK. It was a pointless foul that should have been called as flagrant.
By definition, a flagrant foul is unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent, according to the NBA’s rulebook. Wade’s foul on Kobe was definitely unnecessary contact and should have been called.
I understand making Kobe earn the career points record but Wade went too far. If you get beat, brush it off and don’t let it happen again.
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