Whenever blood gets boiling in the NBA, one player will try to insult another by insinuating they are a dirty player. Last year, after the intense Pacers-Bulls match up in the playoffs, Danny Granger of the Pacers said Chicago center Joakim Noah is a dirty player. This was a ridiculous accusation made out of frustration since Noah is a high-energy player and hustles, and the Pacers were the only team doling out hard fouls and physical play in that series. But still, when hit with the anger of getting eliminated in the playoffs Granger resorted to the accusation that somebody bends and/or breaks the rules. Amare Stoudemire did this in 2007 against the Spurs when the Suns were down as well. Those types of accusations come out a lot when players or fans are upset and many times there is nothing to it, but other times it is worth investigating.
Dirty players are like what Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen would be if they were on the basketball court. They throw out cheap shots oftentimes which could legitimately injure somebody then throw their hands up and walk away like they did nothing. Sometimes they are subtle plays, sometimes not so much and you get hit with a flagrant. If it is subtle then it is like a wrestling manager distracting the ref, slipping their wrestler a pair of brass knuckles, the wrestler hitting his opponent with them, then the ref suddenly turning around to see the opponent down as the other wrestler acts like nothing happened. There are all sorts of guys like that in the league these days. You hear it mentioned most with Kevin Garnett.
Garnett is a psycho on the court. His once unbelievable play has declined with age, and up until recently when he's been able to back up his trash talk with stellar performances, he resorted to cheap shots and dirty play to get his message across. Remember KG undercutting Channing Frye while hitting him in the nuts? Garnett's bark had become much bigger than his bite (his game) so there was a while there where he just changed his bite to be cheap shots and bully tactics. He still throws elbows after the whistle and stuff.
Ron Artest/Metta World Peace's elbow on James Harden is the prime example of a dirty play since he nearly killed Harden then acted like he was just flexing.
Kobe Bryant is a dirty player. This isn't because I love Michael Jordan. Kobe is a dirty player. Remember he got suspended twice in the 2006-07 season for first punching Manu Ginobili after a shot, then doing it again to Marko Jaric? His teammate Derek Fisher is also dirty. Here's a neat clip of their dirty antics in the playoffs against Houston a few years back. Somehow Ron Artest got ejected for Kobe elbowing him in the throat and pretending like he did no such thing. Kobe has all sorts of cheap little elbow and knee plays. You don't agree? Watch:
Of course the dirtiest of all players is Bruce Bowen. He used to undercut people all the time, throw drop kicks, knee people in the balls, etc. You didn't know? Watch:
But now we have an entirely new issue here. Is Dwyane Wade a dirty player? Does the NBA's superstar-pampering system enable this? In my last post I touched on this briefly. After last night's Eastern Conference Finals victory over the Celtics I feel the need to address it again. And no, this is not just because Wade is on Miami. The first basketball player whose jersey and shoes I ever owned was Wade. I have always respected him and been a fan, but I've seen enough in the last year to turn sour on him and think his little slap on Rondo and kick at Kevin Garnett were not just heat of battle coincidences.
Last year. Playoffs. Heat-Celtics. Boston is up 10. Wade loses the ball and drags Rajon Rondo down, dislocating Rondo's elbow and sabotaging the series for the C's:
This year. All Star Game (!!!??!?!). Wade smacks Kobe in the face, breaking his nose and giving him a concussion. A flagrant foul in the ASG? Are you kidding me? Nope:
This year. Regular season against the Bulls. Wade shoves Rip Hamilton for no real reason, gets called for a flagrant:
This year. Playoffs. Heat-Knicks. Wade throws Mike Bibby's shoe into the front row. Not quite as bad as his fouls, but still a dick move:
This year. Playoffs. Heat-Pacers. Wade gets upset he didn't get a foul call so he hockey checks Darren Collison, gets called for a flagrant:
Now this brings us to last night. The Celtics were trying to even their series with Miami in Game 2, but they blew a big lead and couldn't play defense in the third quarter. Even though Miami went to the foul line a ton - LeBron almost as many times as the entire Celtics team - Boston could have won that game but they couldn't execute. Of course it didn't help Wade got dirty in overtime.
First up is Wade's defense against Rondo which somehow resulted in no foul call:
After the flagrant on Kobe in the All Star game and the other cheap fouls Wade has resorted to in recent history I tend to believe this wasn't an accident and he was trying to smack Rondo in the face. I'm sorry but after you jacked up the guy's arm a year ago and have been building a history of bad fouls lately I don't find it coincidence that you smacked a guy who was lighting up your team right in the face.
Then he came down and had this dagger and-one over Kevin Garnett. But he was also throwing a dropkick:
Wade leads with the leg right into KG's knee. When they show the replay again at about the 1:35 mark in that video Jeff Van Gundy even comments that could have been an offensive foul. Yeah buddy. Wade has started to develop a nice little list of questionable play lately. An All Star game flagrant, the flagrant on Rip, the flagrant on Collison, and the other cheap plays. Yet he hasn't faced any kind of real punishment for this stuff.
Kobe was suspended for those shots at Manu and Jaric, but that is the most I've ever heard about a superstar being punished for dirty play. Garnett has never faced any repercussions for his nonsense, and with Wade being on the marketing juggernaut of Miami he damn sure won't face any sort of punishment. The NBA protects the superstars no matter what, and we're seeing clear evidence of it now.
Robert Horry was suspended for his check on Steve Nash. Wade only received a flagrant 1 for his check on Collison. A flagrant 2 is an automatic ejection and you get suspended. Horry's check on Nash was harder, but still look at the rule. Wade's check was unsportsmanlike, unnecessary, and excessive. That was clearly a flagrant 2. Tyson Chandler's illegal screen on LeBron was originally deemed a flagrant 2 but then lowered to a flagrant 1. A flagrant 2 is insane since that was a clear flop from LBJ, but a flagrant 1 still isn't right since it was nothing more than an illegal screen. Wade could have really hurt Collison, it wasn't even remotely a play on the ball or anything, but still it was on the level of the Chandler play? That does not seem right. Even his shove on Hamilton was totally uncalled for and could be seen as a flagrant 2.
Why bother calling Wade for smacking Rondo in the face or kicking Garnett? The league will get more money out of the Heat being in the Finals anyways. Wade is a superstar, unlike Horry and Chandler, so he would never be suspended for that shot on Collison and he would never be reprimanded for his cheap plays in overtime. This goes for all superstars of course as Kobe's suspensions were an aberration when it comes to how the NBA treats the money makers.
Accusing somebody of playing dirty is pretty serious and oftentimes makes you seem like a crybaby, but it is worth pointing out Dwyane Wade has found himself in some questionable situations in the last year, starting with Rondo's injury. The legend has been growing since then, and last night on nearly back-to-back possessions Wade added to it big time. For some reason people keep getting hit when they are around him. And since it is widely known the NBA coddles superstars, it is no surprise they haven't hit Wade with a flagrant 2 or a suspension for anything he's done.
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