Kings coach Luke Walton said Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas made a dangerous play when he threw Chimezie Metu to the floor following a fourth-quarter dunk Sunday night in Sacramento.
Walton used a different word to describe Valanciunas’ actions after learning Metu will be out at least four weeks with a broken right wrist.
“I thought it was a dirty play — still do,” Walton said. “Don’t see how that’s anything resembling a basketball motion or movement. Watched it a lot since and just disappointed.”
The Kings were baffled by the NBA’s ruling after general manager Monte McNair discussed the incident with the league office earlier this week. Game officials gave Valanciunas a technical foul but determined no flagrant foul had occurred. After reviewing the altercation, league officials concurred, an NBA spokesman told The Sacramento Bee.
“In-game, the referees ruled the act to be a dead ball physical taunt and assessed an unsportsmanlike technical foul,” the spokesman said. “Upon league office review, we agree with how it was adjudicated on court.”
Walton addressed the issue after practice Wednesday as the Kings (12-15) prepared to play the Miami Heat (11-17) on Thursday at Golden 1 Center. Metu would have been in line for a big opportunity with Richaun Holmes (right knee soreness) and Harrison Barnes (left foot strain) out due to injuries.
Walton said he was disappointed in the league’s response, saying the NBA would have imposed harsher penalties if LeBron James or another star player had been thrown to the floor under similar circumstances.
“I don’t think that’s much of a question,” Walton said. “I feel like that’s a certainty more than anything else. It’s player safety. That’s what this league is all about now. It’s come a long way since the 80s, but I think anyone who saw that play knows that it would be different if it was someone else hanging on the rim trying to land safely.”
Kings rookie Tyrese Haliburton spoke for 2 minutes, 30 seconds in an emotional response to a question about Metu, 23, who is on a two-way contract with the Kings in his third NBA season out of USC.
“It was a really tough break for Mezie,” Haliburton said. “It sucks because he works his butt off. He’s really like the first dude in this gym every day. To be as honest as I can, I think that the play was … it’s ridiculous what really happened. I think Mezie was kind of in a bad spot. He had to find somewhere to land and there was nowhere to go, so he kind of hung on the rim, and I felt like what happened was definitely wrong.”
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FURTHER REVIEW
The Kings felt Valanciunas committed a flagrant act after Metu dunked on him with 3:18 remaining in Sunday’s 124-110 loss to the Grizzlies at Golden 1 Center. As Metu hung from the rim with Valanciunas standing beneath him and nowhere to land safely, Valanciunas appeared to pull Metu down by his left leg, causing him to crash to the floor.
Replays showed Valanciunas wrapping his left arm around Metu’s left leg and then turning inward, twisting Metu and causing him to lose hold of the rim. As he fell to the floor in a vulnerable position, Metu put his right hand down to break his fall. He was seen shaking his right wrist when he got back to his feet, but he remained in the game and did not appear to be injured.
Sources said Metu experienced soreness Sunday night and Monday morning. X-rays taken after Monday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets revealed a fracture in Metu’s right wrist.
Officials reviewed the play for a potential hostile act. Valanciunas was given a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct, but officials determined there was no flagrant foul. According to NBA rules, anyone guilty of illegal contact which occurs during a dead ball may be assessed a technical foul, if the contact is deemed to be unsportsmanlike in nature, or a flagrant foul if unnecessary and/or excessive contact occurs.
Walton said officials told him “they didn’t think it was excessive,” but he disagreed.
“That was a dangerous play,” Walton said. “He hooked him by the leg and tried to throw him down, so I didn’t understand how that is not, in what today’s NBA is, is not even considered a flagrant foul. I don’t see how that’s a basketball play.”
Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant said Metu was at fault for being “disrespectful” to Valanciunas.
‘“(Metu) went a little overboard,” Morant said. “He got the dunk; probably was excited. I felt like he wrapped his legs around (Valanciunas) and that’s a little disrespectful to a man. I don’t blame JV at all.”
Many Grizzlies fans echoed Morant’s sentiments while defending Valanciunas on social media, some saying Metu deserved to be slammed to the floor for trying to embarrass Valanciunas.
“There are people who think that was right or (Valanciunas) was in the right by any means, which is also ridiculous,” Haliburton said. “It’s hard to understand if you think that because Mezie has nowhere to go. He can’t land on the ground there and the timing between him being thrown to the ground and the timing of the dunk, there’s not a lot of time there. It’s not like he wrapped his legs around and tried to taunt. We were down 20. He’s not trying to taunt him. He’s trying to stay safe. It’s just wrong what happened and I refuse to believe there are people who actually believe JV was in the right.”
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TEACHABLE MOMENT
Walton also addressed his team’s lack of a response to Valanciunas’ act of aggression.
The Kings did nothing when the 6-foot-11, 265-pound Lithuanian center threw Metu to the floor beneath the basket. No pushback. No punches. Not even a peep.
Walton was asked if he was concerned the Kings didn’t have any enforcers who would step up to defend a teammate.
“I don’t know if I’d call it a concern, but that’s definitely something that I see as a value-add to a group,” Walton said. “So I don’t know if we don’t have them or we’ve just got to continue to look to bring that out. Not saying that we want to look to fight people, but Mezie might be the one that actually is that guy. Unfortunately, he’s the one that got hurt, but this is a competitive game and we’ve got to be able to stand up for ourselves. We’ve got to be able to, when pushed, be ready to push back. It’s something that is definitely valuable to a team.”
Walton said his team will learn from this experience.
“We don’t ever want to hurt anyone,” Walton said. “We’re not going to try to teach our guys that, but as far as being a teachable moment, as far as standing up for each other and pushing back, absolutely.
“This is something that, as a group and as a team, you build a bond. You always hear in sports about building a family, and you have your family’s back and togetherness. When someone messes with one of your brothers, you’ve got a bigger brother to step up, so that’s part of our process and understanding, and, yeah, that’s definitely a teachable moment.”
