The Rockets keep getting hit in the nuts.
The NBA has now mostly taken notice.
Houston guard Ben McLemore took the first hit from Thunder star Chris Paul:
Dave McMenamin and Tim MacMahon of ESPN:
Sources told ESPN that the Rockets were upset that Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul’s jab to Ben McLemore’s groin area in overtime of Game 3 of their first round series — a play extremely similar to Davis’ drive — was not reviewed by the league office. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni received a technical foul for angrily arguing that the referees should have reviewed the play to determine if it was a flagrant foul, and sources said the Rockets believed a suspension should have been considered for Paul due to his history of similar incidents.
In Game 5 of that first-round series, Dennis Schroder got P.J. Tucker in the crotch and got fined for it.
Then, in Game 2 of Lakers-Rockets, Anthony Davis tagged Jeff Green in the groin. A day later, the league ruled it a flagrant foul:
LAL’s Anthony Davis assessed a Flagrant Foul 1 upon league review for his contact against HOU’s Jeff Green at 0:15 of 2nd qtr on 9/6/20. pic.twitter.com/NAYSyyugoL
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) September 8, 2020
Maybe Houston’s opponents are just deliberately taking a ton of crotch shots.
We shouldn’t assume a few potentially random examples are a larger trend, though.
Actions look more deliberate in slow motion. Players are moving quickly. Their arms are swinging. Sometimes, unfortunate contact happens.
It should be punished. Regardless of intent, players should ensure they don’t cross that line. That’s their responsibility.
But if everything is so deliberate and dirty, the Rockets must also explain James Harden elbowing Davis after the whistle, which the league retroactively called a technical foul:
J. Harden’s (HOU) contact against A. Davis (LAL) at 4:35 of 1st qtr on 9/6/20 ruled a dead-ball technical foul after league review. pic.twitter.com/aeUT8gJcYI
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) September 8, 2020