Bobby Portis was ejected from Tuesday night’s Knicks-Lakers game for swatting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the head, but he feels his actions were innocent.
Portis was trying to block a layup attempt by KCP in transition during the second quarter but ended up smacking the Lakers guard across the head, knocking off KCP’s headband.
Bobby Portis ejected after smacking KCP across the head… pic.twitter.com/Ju1aoNDXBP
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 8, 2020
Portis received a Flagrant 2 foul for the play and was tossed.
He spoke about the play after the game and denied there was any malicious intent.
“I tried to block the ball, missed the ball, hit him in the head,” Portis said, via the New York Post’s Marc Berman. “My apologies and I was happy to see him come back into the game. My intention was never to hit him in the head. I made a basketball play on the ball. My intent is to play hard. That’s my MO. I accidentally hit him in the head.”
Though the play looks awful, I actually do believe Portis. He probably was going for a block. The thing is he took a violent swing going for the block and missed, which resulted in excessive contact on Caldwell-Pope.
KCP did not take his free throws after being hit. He was checked for a concussion but later cleared to return to the game. Portis could face additional discipline from the league.
