Sports

Why Draymond Green Is Happy NBA Didn't Suspend LaMelo Ball for Tripping Bam Adebayo

By Kristen Wong Sports Illustrated

Perhaps no one in the NBA knows the mind of a player about to commit a reckless-and potentially dirty-foul as well as Warriors' notorious instigator Draymond Green. After LaMelo Ball was seen intentionally tripping Bam Adebayo in the Hornets-Heat play-in game earlier this week, Green shared his thoughts on what he thought of Ball's illegal move-and why he thought the NBA did the right thing by not suspending the Charlotte star.

For some context, Adebayo was near the baseline trying to save a loose ball from going out of bounds and was off-balance as he reached back to get a hold of the ball. Ball, who was on the floor after a blocked floater, reached out and swiped at Adebayo's left ankle, which caused the Heat star to fall painfully on his back. Adebayo was ruled out for the second half of the game due to a back injury, and the Hornets went on to eliminate the Heat, 127-126.

Green was among those saw Ball's seemingly dirty move (for which he has not yet apologized to Adebayo) and gave his honest, unfiltered take on the incident (Did you really expect anything different?). The Warriors stalwart compared it to the Kings' Domantas Sabonis grabbing his ankle during a 2023 game that then led to Green stomping on Sabonis's chest.

"Before Bam got hurt in the beginning of that game, he was working [Moussa] Diabaté… Now I think I can speak to this as good or better than anyone because I am actually someone-my ankle got grabbed and I stomped him on the chest," Green said on his podcast. "When the guy grabbed my ankle, there was no fines. There was no suspension to him. There was only a suspension to me. ... What I said back then was, unfortunately I have to get hurt for them to do something to him. And that's a shame. If Bam Adebayo doesn't get hurt, LaMelo Ball don't get fined."

Ball was fined $35,000 and assessed a flagrant 2 for his "reckless" act, but he escaped a suspension. Green, by contrast, was suspended for the following game of the Warriors' 2023 first-round playoff series against Sacramento.

While the two situations are markedly different in many ways, Green explained why he was happy the NBA didn't suspend Ball for the trip:

"Let's take it a step farther: I'm happy they didn't suspend LaMelo for a game because you can't suspend him just because he got hurt. We saw the same thing when Sabonis grabbed my ankle and nothing happened. You can't have it both ways. ... Was it an intentional trip? To me, he grabbed and pulled him. Yes, it was an intentional trip. Was he intentionally trying to hurt him? No. I don't think LaMelo is thinking, ‘I'm bout to grab Bam ankle, he's gonna fall on his ass and hurt his back.' But those are two completely different things."

A bit of long-winded argument construction from Green, but he eventually gets there. He made the case that the NBA shouldn't dole out severe punishments like suspensions based on the degree of the victim's injury; rather, he alludes that it should be based on the offender's intention to injure. Whether you agree with that or not, Green draws a stark parallel between Ball wanting to trip Adebayo and Ball actually wanting to hurt him.

What LaMelo Ball said about tripping Bam Adebayo in Hornets-Heat

As for what Ball said about the incident, he had a matter-of-fact response to a postgame question about whether he intentionally tripped Adebayo:

"I haven't even seen it. Like I said, I got hit in the head, didn't even know where I was. Just playing basketball," Ball said.

Ball chalked it up as an unfortunate accident, though in replay videos it does appear unnatural that Ball reached out with his arm toward Adebayo's foot during that play. The trip, which wasn't reviewed for a flagrant at the time because there was no immediate whistle nor a stoppage in play, drew much harsher criticism from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

"I think it's a stupid play, it's a dangerous play. Obviously our best player is out. I'm not making any excuse. ... I don't think it belongs in the game, tripping guys, shenanigans. Somebody has to see that. ... [Ball] should've been thrown out of the game from that," Spoelstra said.

Given that Ball was retroactively assessed a flagrant 2, an ejection seems like a fair consequence. But did it warrant a suspension? Not quite, at least according to one the league's most experienced players on the subject.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Draymond Green Is Happy NBA Didn't Suspend LaMelo Ball for Tripping Bam Adebayo.

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This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 6:02 PM.

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