Everyone loves a good hustle play. They’re exhilarating. They’re exciting. When players dive into the stands or completely sell out to get a block the crowd goes crazy.
Getting to those 50/50 balls can literally turn the tide of a game. It can shape the course of a season. And it did just that on Wednesday night when the Celtics played the Warriors.
It certainly wasn’t in a good way, either.
The game was already a slugfest. It was 33-25 in the middle of the second quarter. The vibe was certainly mid-90’s NBA ball and, when that’s the vibe, things can get a little crazy. That’s exactly what happened.
There was a loose ball after Jayson Tatum nearly turned the ball over. Stephen Curry slides over to try and corral it when, all of a sudden, Marcus Smart dives on the ground through Curry to get to the ball first.
The Warriors staff was upset with both of these Marcus Smart plays. First one was a roll up of Steph Curry's leg that has him currently in the locker room, second ruled a flagrant on Klay Thompson. Kerr was telling refs to review both plays, mimicking a leg chop to officials. pic.twitter.com/6edSJxQszv
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 17, 2022
Curry walked back to the locker room. He didn’t come back out. After playing just one game with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson for the first time in 1,006 days, the trio had been broken up again by yet another injury. Their title hopes were chopped down once again with Curry now out indefinitely with a foot sprain.
To make matters worse, after diving into Curry’s leg, Smart actually kicks Klay Thompson in the face as he jumped in the air to try and foil a Warriors’ fastbreak.
The kick is ultimately ruled a flagrant foul. The dive wasn’t ruled as anything. But they were both extremely dangerous plays. Unfortunately, someone came up injured because of one of them.
Look, I know what you’re thinking. But this isn’t a dirty play. This doesn’t make Marcus Smart a dirty player. He defended himself after the game and he was right to.
“My teammates and players and my colleagues, they know I’m not a dirty player. They know I’ma go out there and leave everything I have on the floor for my team and I’ma hustle. And that’s just what it is.”
He’s absolutely right. He’s just out there hustling and playing hard. That is what it is. Smart played hard and he did it within the rules at that moment.
But I think this moment here and a moment that was heavily debated last year show that plays like this might deserve a little more scrutiny and attention.
The play from last year in question here is when Solomon Hill made a similar play for the Hawks that took LeBron James out of the game and effectively cratered the Lakers’ season.
It isn’t the exact same play, but it’s similar. This is a player diving to the ground to try and get a loose ball. It also resulted in injury in that scenario, too. You absolutely never want to see this as a fan of the game with any player, but especially not with players like James and Curry.
The NBA should really take a hard look at these moments and other hustle plays like them. Sure, the intent might not be to injure. But whenever you’re diving in the vicinity of someone’s legs? It’s a dangerous play. Period. And it’s also largely unnecessary — it was a single possession that wasn’t at the end of a game. The dive was unneeded.
The league can do something about this the same way they did something about the Zaza Pachulia closeout. This can be a flagrant foul, too.
Should it be? I’m not sure. But, at the very least, it deserves a discussion.
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