ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that Denver Nuggets guard Dahntay Jones will not be suspended for his dangerous and intentional trip of Los Angeles Lakers’ guard Kobe Bryant during Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.
Wrote Stein on ESPN’s Web site:
Denver Nuggets guard Dahntay Jones is on the brink of a one-game suspension after the NBA upgraded his Game 4 trip of Kobe Bryant to a flagrant foul.
The foul — deemed a flagrant foul 1 by league officials — is Jones’ third flagrant of the postseason and his second in the past two games in the Western Conference finals. That gives Jones three flagrant-foul points in the playoffs, with players receiving an automatic one-game ban when they exceed three points.
The league confirmed Tuesday night that Jones’ third-quarter trip — which was not spotted by the officiating crew — has been reclassified as a flagrant 1.It also confirmed that Andrew Bynum’s fourth-quarter flagrant 1 against Denver’s Chris Andersen has been downgraded to a personal foul.
The NBA didn’t quite have the guts to do what needed to be done. Instead, the league seems to have decided to let Jones (earning a reputation among some people as a dirty player), in essence, suspend himself with his next flagrant foul. I can understand not wanting to let a suspension play a factor in this important playoff series, but that was not Jones’ first cheap shot of Bryant. On the other hand, the league needs to be tougher on habitual offenders in regard to dangerous plays like that one.
Heaven only knows what referee Bennett Salvatore (who called nothing) was looking at … standing right in front of the play.
I still contend, buig playoff series or not, Dahntay Jones deserved a one-game suspension for the trip (that followed up the dangerous push of a mid-air Bryant).
