Andre Drummond won’t face league discipline for an elbow to LeBron James during game three, and James himself isn’t surprised.
Drummond caught James with an elbow during Friday’s game, which you can see here. The Cavaliers thought that Drummond should have been assessed a flagrant 2 at the very minimum and appealed to the league office, but Drummond was not punished.
James isn’t surprised.
“Initially I was surprised, but then I thought who he did it to and I wasn’t surprised,” James said, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Coach Tyronn Lue backed James, arguing that the Cavs star doesn’t get all the calls he should because he’s so strong and does not wither under contact.
“He’s the Shaq of guards and forwards,” Lue said Sunday. “He’s so strong and so physical, when he goes to the basket guys are bouncing off of him. Those are still fouls, but he doesn’t get that call because he’s so big and so strong and so physical.
“We used to tease Shaq all the time about soft fouls. He said, ‘Listen, if I pinch you it feels the same way when you pinch me. No matter how big I am, it feels the same.’ I never thought about it like that. That’s kind of how LeBron feels.”
Stan Van Gundy would probably disagree with James’s assessment of how he’s officiated, but ultimately, the Cavaliers are up 3-0 in the series and can close things out Sunday. While it would be easier for them without Drummond, the Pistons center may sit in crunch time due to his poor free throw shooting anyway.
