LaMelo Ball Hit With $35K Fine For Tripping Bam Adebayo, LaVar Reacts

The NBA’s fairly new SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament has led to a renewed sense of competition among the lower-ranked teams, most recently seen in the Charlotte Hornets-Miami Heat matchup.

Early into the second quarter, when the Hornets were up 28-24, LaMelo Ball was driving into the paint when he pulled up for a layup that Simone Fontecchio blocked. Then, once he fell to the floor, he swiped behind Bam Adebayo’s foot, causing him to fall hard onto his back and miss the rest of the game with a lower back injury.

He’d be sorely missed as the Hornets eked out a 127-126 overtime win thanks to Ball’s game-winner, who celebrated by punching the Hornets’ mascot.

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was quick to call out Melo’s actions as careless.

“I don’t think it’s cute. I don’t think it’s funny,” Spoelstra said. “I think it’s a stupid play. It’s a dangerous play. Obviously our best player was out. I’m not making an excuse. The Hornets played great. They made those plays down the stretch. We had our opportunities down the stretch. That’s a shame. He should’ve been penalized for that. Tripping guys, shenanigans. [Referee] Curtis [Blair] was there; it was his responsibility to see that, and if it’s not his responsibility, [crew chief] Zach [Zarba]’s got to see that. Somebody has got to see that. He should’ve been thrown out of the game for that.”

Ball did apologize for causing Adebayo’s injury, claiming he grabbed his leg inadvertently.

“I got hit in the head, didn’t know where I was, but I’m gonna check on him and see if he’s okay and everything,” he said.

Now it’s clear that the NBA doesn’t want to hear Ball’s excuse, and James Jones, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations, has fined him a total of $60,000, $35,000 for a Flagrant Foul 2 for his “unnecessary and reckless contact” with Adebayo and another $25,000 for using “profane language“ during the live postgame interview.

LaMelo’s got a lot of blowback after the play, including FS1 host Nick Wright, who called LaMelo a “clown.”

LaVar had to jump in and rip Wright’s comments in a video posted to Instagram.

“Has Nick Wright ever looked in the mirror? I bet you if you look at the dictionary right now, and you look up a clown, you’re gonna see two things: one, you’re gonna see somebody with long hair on their sides and a big nose. Yeah, that’s Nick Wright, a clown in itself. He’s been a clown ever since I’ve known him. So don’t ever curl your lips and say a Ball boy is a clown.”

See social media’s reaction to Ball’s punishment below.