Pretty much everyone had the same reaction to Dwyane Wade's oddly hard foul on Kobe Bryant Sunday during the All-Star Game. What the crap was up with that?
In a regular game nobody would've batted an eye, but in the relaxed, fun setting of an All-Star Game, it definitely appeared out of place. Wade explained it afterward by saying he didn't mean to draw blood and was just getting Kobe back for some fouls on the other end.
But what ended up happening was that Kobe broke his nose, suffered a mild concussion and has to wear a mask for a little bit. So Wade feels a little bad now. And would like to say he's sorry. Via the Sun Sentinel, Wade says he sent "a message" of apology to Kobe for the broken nose and stressed he didn't mean any harm.
"I sent him a message, with my apologies. Unfortunate that happened to him, but that's all I could do," Wade said following Tuesday's practice at AmericanAirlines Arena, the first time he has commented on the incident since Sunday. "He knows it's no ill intent on me to do that. Did I take a foul? Yes, I took a foul. So, talk about me for taking a foul. But I never wanted that kind of outcome."Wade really didn't have to apologize like that. It's basketball. Bloody noses, busted lips and black eyes happen all the time. When it does, you say, "My bad" and keep moving on. This only became something bigger because in the traditional manner of the All-Star Game, you don't see things like that. Wade said he was just "taking a foul" to stop play so he could talk to the ref about two calls he didn't get on the other end. It was an accident, end of story. It might've looked funny, but the fact Kobe got his nose broken wasn't the intention.
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"It's unfortunate, obviously," he said. "You don't never want to hurt nobody, anybody in this game, especially on a freak play like that. So, you know it's unfortunate.
"I sent my apologies. But, you know, not intentional. If it's something I did intentionally, it's a different story. So it's unfortunate."
Still, people like TNT's Reggie Miller were extremely critical of Wade's foul on Kobe and called for him to apologize publicly. Wade isn't into that.
"Reggie don't know what was said," Wade said. "When I saw his blood, obviously I didn't try to do that. I don't know if anybody wants me to get down on my knees in front of the world and do it. I don't have to do that.And guess what, you guys? The Heat play the Lakers on Sunday. So that should be a little more fun now. If Andrew Bynum clotheslines Wade on a drive to the basket, I think you'll know why."Like I said, everyone has an opinion, everyone uses their opinion. Like I said, I sent my apologies to Kobe and I move on from it. It's unfortunate. It was not nothing that was ill intent, in a sense. But this will be the last time I talk about it from this point on."
