NEW YORK — Busy morning in Stu Jackson’s office, with another suspension announced in addition to the one given to Lakers coach Mike Brown.
Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves won’t have a double-double Tuesday night or Wednesday night when the Wolves play a back-to-back set against Sacramento and Memphis.
The Timberwolves forward was hit with a two-game suspension Monday by NBA vice president Stu Jackson “for driving his foot into the upper body and face of the Houston Rockets’ Luis Scola as Scola was lying on the floor,” the NBA announced in a news release.
The incident, which has been upgraded by the league office to a Flagrant Foul Two on Love, occurred with 8:34 remaining in the third quarter of the Timberwolves’ 100-91 win over the Rockets at Target Center in Minneapolis on Feb. 4.
To view the play, click here.
“I want to publicly apologize to Luis Scola and the Houston Rockets,” Love said in a statement released Monday night. “My intention is to never hurt another player on the basketball court. I’ve always had the utmost respect for the game of basketball and all of my opponents. I also apologize to my coaches, teammates and our fans for the consequences of my actions.”
Following the game, Love had a different story, saying it was both an accident and an impulsive act.
“He was kind of right there,” Love told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “I have size-19 feet. He just happened to be there. I had nowhere to go. I kind of tripped up. I just had nowhere to step. It was a heat-of-the-moment type play. He was there and it happened to be his face.” Love said he and Scola have a good relationship, and was sure Scola didn’t take it personally. “And obviously it was nothing personal against their team,” Love said. “… Nothing personal, just heat of the moment.” Should Love be suspended? “I just don’t care about the play, the game is over,” said Scola, who added that he didn’t know if the step was intentional or not. “I was just really surprised. … I’m talking about the play. I think he wanted to foul me, and I don’t know why the ref didn’t call it.”
Yeah . . . this is about as legitimate as the time Dennis Rodman brushed that camera man’s nuts and ended up writing him an apology check for $50,000. With all of the dirty play that goes on underneath the hoop, this is what the NBA hands out suspensions for? Pathetic.
WWE after NBA.
“…yea…it was just , i mean i have a size 19 shoe and well I couldn’t get out of the way, I mean it was just the heat of the moment”….dude ‘fess up you giant jock strap’…it was totally intentional and I wish Scola had jacked you the next time you went up for a dunk, shot whatever….” kevinm love deserves a little pine time for sure…..what a big babyy this guy is..’