On Thursday evening, diminutive Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea was ejected for an altercation involving Blake Griffin. One quick look at the video would indicate that Barea did, in fact, make contact with Griffin in an aggressive way, but in the same breath, it was also quite clear that Griffin performed a high-end acting job that netted the All-Star forward a foul call.
In the aftermath of that play, there have been several reactions from members of the Mavericks organization but, on Saturday, the most interesting one came from owner Mark Cuban and Isaac Harris of The Smoking Cuban (fittingly) brings word:
“I just feel bad for Blake. It’s hard to come back from a knockout like that. We sent flowers to his family, condolences. I can only guess he is going to be drinking through a straw for a long, long time. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Blake and his family.”
The sarcasm is dripping from every word of those comments from Cuban and it appropriate given his personality. It should be noted, though, that Cuban wasn’t the only one that poked fun at Griffin’s flopping ability as a result of the incident.
J.J. Barea says he has no beef with Blake Griffin: "I gave him a little push. He landed far over there." #DALvsLAC
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) March 24, 2017
Wesley Matthews: "I've seen a lot of crazy stuff, but a 4-9 guy getting a flagrant 2? That's pretty ridiculous." #DALvsLAC
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) March 24, 2017
Wesley Matthews’ characterization of Barea as a “4’9 guy” is hysterical in that Barea is listed at 6’0 and 185 pounds while simultaneously appearing as if he is one of the shortest players in the NBA. With that in mind, the fallout of the play on Griffin’s behalf remains far-fetched and it was typical Mark Cuban to light up an opposing player in the way that he did.
