Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers says the NBA is setting a “very dangerous precedent” by allowing teams to bait star players into retaliatory fouls.
“If we’re going to start punishing the retaliators, and not the instigators, then we’ve got a problem in this league,” Rivers said Friday. “I think the league is setting up a very dangerous precedent right now.”
Rivers witnessed it firsthand on Thursday in the Sixers’ 102-97 Game 3 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Minutes into the game, Embiid received a flagrant foul one for kicking Nets big man Nic Claxton near the groin area after Claxton stared down Embiid and stepped over him following an alley-oop dunk. Claxton received a technical foul on the play and was later ejected after picking up his second technical for taunting Embiid.
“Teams are targeting the better player with the instigation to get them thrown out and the better player has to be above and can’t retaliate,” Rivers said. “And so we are asking our stars to turn their heads a whole bunch more than they can at times. It’s a tough one for the league. I think they are in a tough place.”
GAME 3 RECAP: James Harden calls ejection ‘unacceptable’; Joel Embiid receives flagrant foul for kick
Game officials said Embiid did not receive a flagrant foul two and automatic ejection because of his “point of contact,” the same criteria that led to James Harden’s ejection in the third quarter after he appeared to strike the Nets’ Royce O’Neale in the groin area while trying to create separation with his left arm.
Rivers said Harden’s ejection was a “joke,” but Embiid’s kick could’ve “went either way.”
“Now that I’ve watched it. It really could’ve. I think he kicked him in the leg, actually. I don’t know if that’s where he was targeting or not. But don’t stand over him,” said Rivers. “We have these unwritten rules in hockey. … We need to create some in our league, and one of them is you don’t straddle a guy and stand over him. You just don’t.”
Rivers also cited the example of Warriors’ Draymond Green being issued a flagrant foul two and automatic ejection in Golden State’s Game 2 loss to the Sacramento Kings for stomping on Domantas Sabonis’ chest after he grabbed Green’s leg. Green was issued a one-game suspension for Game 3 because of his “history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
“I’m going to say this, and I probably shouldn’t: I didn’t think Draymond (Green) should have been suspended,” Rivers said. “Draymond Green stepped on a guy’s chest because he was holding his foot. The instigator was holding his foot.”
Rivers continued: “I’ve been a player, and this is a players’ league, and I am 100 percent pro-player,” Rivers said. “I think players should play in games. We talk all year about fans not being happy about guys not playing, and now we’re taking guys out of the playoffs. I don’t believe in the past stuff either. They take away all your techs at the end of the season, right? And you start over. Then you should start over with that stuff, too.”
Rivers said if the league is “going to suspend Draymond, you should suspend the other guy, too,” adding that the NBA must “come up with something like that.”
Sabonis did not receive any further penalties. Although the league considered several aspects, including a possible fine, it concluded that the technical foul issued on the court was sufficient punishment, league officials told USA TODAY Sports.
The Sixers have a 3-0 lead over the Nets and look to close out the series in Brooklyn on Saturday without Embiid, who sprained his right knee in Game 3. The Warriors are down 2-1 against the Kings and face Sacramento in San Francisco on Sunday.
Contributing: Jeff Zillgitt
NBA explains why the league suspended Green for stomp, did not punish Sabonis
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Doc Rivers: NBA allows teams to bait stars into fouls, ejections