Kings coach Walton says Jonas Valanciunas made ‘dangerous play’ on Chimezie Metu dunk
Kings coach Luke Walton said Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas made a “dangerous play” when he committed an unsportsmanlike act following a dunk by Chimezie Metu on Sunday night in Sacramento.
Metu dunked on Valanciunas with 3:18 remaining in the Kings’ 124-110 loss to the Grizzlies at Golden 1 Center. As Metu hung from the rim with nowhere to land safely, Valanciunas appeared to pull him down by his left leg, causing Metu to crash to the floor.
Replays showed Valanciunas hooking Metu’s left leg with his left arm and then turning inward, twisting Metu and causing him to lose his grasp of the rim. Metu suffered a scary fall in a vulnerable position, but he was not injured.
Officials reviewed the play for a potential hostile act. Valanciunas was given a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct, but officials determined no flagrant foul had occurred.
“That was a dangerous play,” Walton said. “He hooked him by the leg and tried to throw him down, so I didn’t understand how that is not, in what today’s NBA is, is not even considered a flagrant foul. I don’t see how that’s a basketball play.”
Walton said officials told him “they didn’t think it was excessive,” but the league office will take a closer look to determine if a flagrant foul should have been assessed.
The NBA defines a Flagrant Foul 1 as unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent. A Flagrant Foul 2, which results in an automatic ejection, is defined as unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent.
Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant said he felt Metu was at fault.
‘“He went a little overboard,” Morant said. “He got the dunk; probably was excited. I felt like he wrapped his legs around (Valanciunas) and that’s a little disrespectful to a man. I don’t blame JV at all.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
