Bobcats’ McRoberts fined $20,000 for his foul, but Heat believe not enough.
Miami Heat star LeBron James has revealed that he is frustrated by the hard fouls he receives, but understands that it is vital for his team that he stays composed.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was disappointed with the league’s decision to only fine Josh McRoberts $20,000 and with their failure to upgrade his hit from a common foul to a flagrant 2 penalty for excessive contact.
McRoberts was not suspended and is therefore free to feature in Game 3 on Saturday night in Charlotte, which has left the Heat scratching their heads over how well their star man is being protected.
“We’re all fortunate, because that play could have been much worse, and it’s not the first time this has happened,” Spoelstra said, as reported by ESPN.
“We’ve already expressed it with the league. We disagree with this. But you have to move on and control what you can control. We’ve had dialogue. They made their decision.”
James has averaged 29.5 points and 7.5 rebounds through the first two games of the series and has attempted 22 free throws, and despite picking up knocks throughout the year he has insisted that he will continue to be aggressive and get to the basket.
However, he understands that one of the biggest challenges will be to remain composed despite the frustration of taking hard fouls as he knows that he can’t afford to react and risk being thrown out of the game himself.
“I mean a lot to our team,” said James, a four-time league MVP.
“Obviously, the game is different [today]. If this was the 1980s, I’d come up swinging. But this is not the ’80s. I can’t do that. Me being out of the game, it hurts us more than it’s going to hurt the other team. I’ve got to keep my composure. I get frustrated at times, but I understand how much I mean to this team.”
James insisted that he doesn’t want the headlines to read that he is crying for fouls as he believes there are calls across the league that aren’t being made. The 29-year-old is merely arguing that the officiating needs to be correct and then the problems will not surface.
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