Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt has admitted that he finds the trend of hard fouls being committed on LeBron James “worrisome”.
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James has been the victim of several hard fouls in his last few games, and Blatt has unsurprisingly jumped to his defence after previously calling for more protection.
Houston Rockets star James Harden was suspended for one game after kicking James in the groin, while Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas was called for a flagrant foul earlier this week after taking LeBron to the floor by wrapping his arm round his neck area.
While that trend didn’t continue into Friday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks despite some hard treatment from DeMarre Carroll, Blatt remains concerned with the regularity that the two-time NBA champion is being hit.
“I just think LeBron is getting hit, and getting hit every time he goes to the basket, and half of them are ignored. Because of the strength and the power he brings to his drives, it’s easy to overlook a lot of stuff,” Blatt said, according to Ohio.com.
“It does seem to be a trend. That’s going to happen now and again, but when it’s happening continually that’s worrisome. And it should be worrisome for everybody. Because there’s ways to defend guys and ways to defend guys physically, but there’s a limit and that limit needs to be recognized.”
The 30-year-old has previously suggested that he might have to start protecting himself more by retaliating, but he is fully aware that that will only hurt his teammates and so he will need to receive more support from the officials.
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