Calls are growing for Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis to be suspended following his low blow to Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder during the first quarter of Game 2 on Tuesday.
Fox Sports Radio host Jason Smith and analyst Ric Bucher have led the charge behind the hot take that Davis should be suspended for Game 3 for the groin kick.
Jae Crowder. Ouch 😬 pic.twitter.com/AFRLjqOeXz
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 26, 2021
On his program The Jason Smith Show, Smith ranted that there was intent from Davis and that he should have been heading to the showers after the play.
“There was absolutely intent. It should have probably been ‘Flagrant 2’ and Anthony Davis gets kicked out of the game,” Smith said on his radio show. “If they had called a Flagrant 2 there is no defending it because AD clearly goes in and gives that big kick and you know exactly what he was trying to do. There should have been an ejection, and his stat line should have been ‘0,0, and 0.'”
Ric Bucher Says Precedent Has Been Set on Groin Shots
Getty ImagesAnthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers drives the ball against Jae Crowder of the Phoenix Suns.
Smith later had NBA analyst Ric Bucher who doubled down on the take that Davis should be suspended. Bucher brought up the incident between LeBron James and Golden State’s Draymond Green in 2016, which resulted in Green being suspended for a game in the NBA Finals.
“We’ve seen this happen with a LeBron-involved team; let’s go back to Draymond Green in Game 5 when he takes a swing at LeBron’s private parts as LeBron steps over him,” Bucher said. “He was not tossed out of that game, but he was suspended in the subsequent game because they felt that that particular situation was not adjudicated severely enough. That is where precedent has been set, and that’s where things get real interesting.
👁️👁️@RicBucher: "If Anthony Davis is not suspended for the next game it would raise serious questions."
Ric Bucher says NBA precedent is not on the Lakers' side. pic.twitter.com/5GHwgJ82Q3
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) May 26, 2021
“If Anthony Davis is not suspended for the next game it would raise serious questions about ‘okay, so why did you do it the way you did it with Draymond?’”
Anthony Davis Says Low-Blow Was Unintentional
While Bucher is passionate on the subject, Green was a repeat offender and the play put him over the limit for flagrant points in the postseason, resulting in his one-game ban. Davis has no history of being a dirty or even overly aggressive player, rarely drawing a technical foul.
Davis has said the kick was not intentional and that Crowder didn’t have any hard feelings about the play after.
“It wasn’t intentional,” Davis said. “Jae knows that. He came and told me that he knew it wasn’t intentional. But if you get kicked in that area, I guess it’s an automatic Flagrant 1, no matter what the situation is. I didn’t let it affect me.”
Davis finished the game with 34 points, going 18-of-21 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and doled out 7 assists.
The series is tied 1-1 and shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday. And there’s no doubt Davis will be on the court.
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