"If I shoot you, I'm brainless. If you shoot me, then you're famous."
It's a Jay Z line from Street is Watching. It's also apparently what goes through LeBron James' head whenever he is fouled hard foul. That's what he said after Saturday's Game 3 loss to the Raptors in Toronto. The "borderline dirty play" he was referring to happened with a few minutes left in the game. The Cleveland Cavaliers were down 14 and LeBron was isolated against Bismack Biyombo.
As LeBron drove to the hoop, he got by Biyombo and looked like he would at least have a layup and maybe even a momentum-shifting dunk. Instead, Biyombo wrapped him up around the shoulders and sent LeBron to the floor. It was whistled a flagrant-1 foul and James was none too happy about it. Immediately, a crowd got between him and Biyombo, and he had to be calmed down as he complained to the officials about the nature of the wrapup.
LeBron James on what goes through his mind after what he believes to be a "dirty play" pic.twitter.com/xcd6FFROop
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) May 22, 2016
Here's the play in question. A couple things pop into mind when watching it. First, was this a dirty play or just a hard foul? Is the announcer correct in saying LeBron exaggerates the contact at the end? What would actually happen if LeBron did retaliate? And how hard is it to officiate someone as strong and fast as LeBron?
There was a play earlier in the game in which DeMar DeRozan grabbed both of James' arms on a drive to the hoop. He still managed to get a shot off in the lane and ended up making it. Does something like that end up shaping the way Biyombo handles that situation? Or would he have done that no matter what?
