Metta World Peace received a controversial flagrant foul at the end of the first half of Game 5 between the Lakers and Thunder on Monday night. Metta went for the block on Thabo Sefolosha with his right arm, but with his left he shoved the Thunder guard. After hearing that he was called for a flagrant, he exploded on the ref and yelled in his face “That is bull___!” netting him a technical foul for berating a ref.
GIF of Metta cussing is below:
Many people thought the flagrant foul call was wrong, beginning with TNT analyst Reggie Miller. The biggest argument from people who disagreed with the call is that it’s playoff basketball therefore fouls like that should be allowed.
The definition for a flagrant 1 foul is that it is “unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent.”
By that definition, World Peace committed a flagrant 1 foul. People are just upset because they don’t think calls like that should be made in the playoffs, and they feel World Peace was penalized because of his reputation. I think it was deserved and that people are missing the unnecessary shove he made with his left arm.
Video via Eye on Basketball
GIF via Gifulmination
