Lance Stephenson didn’t reserve all his seeming antipathy for LeBron James. No, he also was whistled for a flagrant foul after slapping Heat backup point guard Norris Cole while running after a loose ball during Game 6’s thrashing.
Stephenson was whistled for a flagrant foul 1 on the play, which means it was not “excessive,” according to the NBA’s rules and regulations.
Stephenson was racing to recover the ball, but after looking at it a million times since last night, his eyes aren’t focused on the ball at all. Personally, I think he wasn’t trying to slap Cole, but consciously neglected to pull his hand back knowing Cole would run into it going the other way. Not a dirty play at all, but also not that far off.
(GIF via @_MarcusD_)
Was Stephenson’s slap intentional?
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