Jermaine O’Neal was diagnosed with a sprain knee after the Golden State Warriors’ Game 6 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, but he insists he is going to play in Game 7. O’Neal injured his knee after a collision with Glen Davis early in the second quarter and was helped to the locker room. After watching the replay, O’Neal felt that it was a “dirty play.”
“I looked at it as just a dirty play,” he told reporters, via CSNBayArea.com’s Monte Poole. “I’m not going to go try to dive into somebody’s legs. It wasn’t a scramble for the ball. I respect people’s ability to come out and perform and take care of their family, based on their bodies. Either he has terrible balance as a pro athlete, or that was a dirty play.”
It’s hard to tell if Davis lost his balance and stumbled into O’Neal, but it didn’t look like he made much of an effort to stop himself. My guess is he won’t be disciplined because it’s almost impossible to determine intent on a play like that. That doesn’t mean O’Neal isn’t convinced.
“His head was down,” O’Neal added. “Even if you’re diving for something, you’ve got to see what you’re diving for. But, you know, God don’t like ugly.”
As if Game 7 wasn’t already going to be spirited enough between two teams with a ton of hatred toward one another, we now add an angry Jermaine O’Neal into the fold.
