LeBron defends Dellavedova: He doesn't deserve a bad rap
LeBron James defends his teammate from critics
LeBron James defended his teammate Matthew Dellavedova after the critics following Al Horford's ejection late in first half of Game 3 between Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Per USA Today, "There's chippiness out there. He's a player that plays hard. There has got to be a line at some point," said Hawks forward-center Al Horford, who was called for a flagrant foul two and ejected from Game 3 late in the first half after an incident with Dellavedova.
Dellavedova was part of the play in Game 2 in which he went for the ball and landed on Kyle Korver's leg. Korver sustained a severe high right ankle sprain, which ended his season. Dellavedova was also involved in an incident with Chicago's Taj Gibson in the conference semifinals, and Gibson was also called for a flagrant foul two and ejected. Dellavedova had Gibson's leg trapped and as Gibson tried to free himself, the NBA said he used excessive contact against an opponent.
"Was it on purpose or not? We don't know," Horford said. "Maybe it wasn't on purpose. But just his track record, I just felt like it was. On my part, it was very poor for doing that."
Horford said he felt like Dellavedova went at him.
"He's got to learn," Horford said. "He's only been in this league for a couple of years or whatever. But he's got to learn at the end of the day it's a big brotherhood here. Guys look out for each other. I don't think it was malicious, but he has to learn."
Dellavedova took exception to Horford's contention that the second-year guard fromAustralia has a track record.
"I would obviously disagree with that," Dellavedova said. "I was boxing him out, and you can see from the baseline view that he's pulling my left arm down."
James started talking as soon as Dellavedova finished.
"In Game 2, when (Pero) Antic two‑hand shoves me out of the air. The fact that I'm still playing, we don't talk about it, but he two‑hand shoves me in the air," James said. "So what are we really talking about?
"Are we going to talk about us trying to win basketball games or about those guys trying to figure out a way that Matthew Dellavedova is this type of … this guy, he works his tail off every single day. He beats the odds, and he comes to play as hard as he can every single night. If they're focused on Delly, then they're focused on the wrong thing.
"I'm a little bit off about it because this is my guy, this is my teammate, and this is a guy that goes out and works his tail off every single night, and people are trying to give him a bad rap. He doesn't deserve it, and I don't like it."
Per USA Today, "There's chippiness out there. He's a player that plays hard. There has got to be a line at some point," said Hawks forward-center Al Horford, who was called for a flagrant foul two and ejected from Game 3 late in the first half after an incident with Dellavedova.
Dellavedova was part of the play in Game 2 in which he went for the ball and landed on Kyle Korver's leg. Korver sustained a severe high right ankle sprain, which ended his season. Dellavedova was also involved in an incident with Chicago's Taj Gibson in the conference semifinals, and Gibson was also called for a flagrant foul two and ejected. Dellavedova had Gibson's leg trapped and as Gibson tried to free himself, the NBA said he used excessive contact against an opponent.
"Was it on purpose or not? We don't know," Horford said. "Maybe it wasn't on purpose. But just his track record, I just felt like it was. On my part, it was very poor for doing that."
Horford said he felt like Dellavedova went at him.
"He's got to learn," Horford said. "He's only been in this league for a couple of years or whatever. But he's got to learn at the end of the day it's a big brotherhood here. Guys look out for each other. I don't think it was malicious, but he has to learn."
Dellavedova took exception to Horford's contention that the second-year guard fromAustralia has a track record.
"I would obviously disagree with that," Dellavedova said. "I was boxing him out, and you can see from the baseline view that he's pulling my left arm down."
James started talking as soon as Dellavedova finished.
"In Game 2, when (Pero) Antic two‑hand shoves me out of the air. The fact that I'm still playing, we don't talk about it, but he two‑hand shoves me in the air," James said. "So what are we really talking about?
"Are we going to talk about us trying to win basketball games or about those guys trying to figure out a way that Matthew Dellavedova is this type of … this guy, he works his tail off every single day. He beats the odds, and he comes to play as hard as he can every single night. If they're focused on Delly, then they're focused on the wrong thing.
"I'm a little bit off about it because this is my guy, this is my teammate, and this is a guy that goes out and works his tail off every single night, and people are trying to give him a bad rap. He doesn't deserve it, and I don't like it."
E. Carchia
@Sportando
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