Good article from, of all people, Bruce Hooley:
The rules don't apply to NBA stars
May 25, 2015 -- 12:58pm
By Bruce Hooley | ESPNCleveland.com
Photo/AP
The rules are different for stars.
How many times have we heard that in the NBA?
Turns out, that adage holds true even after the stars stop making shots and winning games.
Because if the privileges ended when the star stopped playing, TNT's Reggie Miller and Kenny Smith would be getting a scolding from their bosses today about being much more responsible with their commentary.
That's what happens to true professional broadcasters who make damaging, incendiary inferences, like the ones Miller and Smith made about Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday.
But Miller and Smith will skate, and likely never face correction, for strongly suggesting that Dellavedova is a player who crosses the line between clean, hard play and dirty play.
That is a Scarlet Letter a broadcaster can't indict any player with, lacking clear, credible proof, which does not exist in the case of Dellavedova.
The only thing that makes him an outlier is his constant energy, relentless effort and refusal to respect the caste system of NBA stardom.
That trait is why Dellavedova made the Cavaliers as an undrafted free agent, and the day he loses it is the day he'll be out of the league.
Miller and Smith must have forgotten that since the early days of their NBA careers. Although they entered the league from the college basketball meccas of UCLA and North Carolina, neither would have made it without displaying the same effort Dellavedova offers every game.
The controvery started Sunday when Dellevedova attempted to block out Atlanta center Al Horford near the basket in the second quarter. The two fell to the floor, in the vicinity of Atlanta's DeMare Carroll, and Horford was eventually ejected for throwing an elbow at Dellavedova's head/neck.
Here is the exchange between Marv Albert, Miller and Chris Webber on TNT, analyzing the play:
Webber: "You can't come down with that elbow. (Dellavedova) is a guy you love having on your team."
Albert: "As far as the positon is concerned, there are paybacks."
Webber: "If he's on my team, I want you to pay him back as much as possible. He's diving on the floor for a loose ball and we're up 2-0 and we're at home. This is what you're talking about. Yeah, he rolls up, (on Horford's leg), but he falls. He doesn't try to go into someone's knees. He falls over Carroll. It was hustle."
Miller: "No, but here's what the real thing is. He did the same thing to Kyle Korver, and he's out for the series, the high ankle sprain. He's rolling up on Horford's foot right now, and if you're Al Horford, you're saying to myself, 'We saw the video (of Korver's injury).' And even though it didn't look malicious, one of our All-Stars is out for the remainder of this series."
Webber: "You're right Reggie. But Kyle Korver dove for that ball in which he hurt his ankle. I believe Kyle Korver dove for that ball. (TNT shows video of Korver injury). He did. They're both diving."
After a brief exchange, Miller finished by saying this:
"I'm not saying Dellavedova is a dirty player, a malicious (player). He's a hustler. He's an irritant. Very aggressive. My point is, when you start going at guys' legs, knees, ankles and there is a habit., because this happened just last game with Korver...I guarantee you in the locker room, the Hawks looked at it, probably spoke to Kyle Korver and (he said) this guy went for my knees."
At no point did Miller said Dellavedova was a dirty player, but he implied it by connecting two unrelated incidents -- the Korver play from Game 2 and the Taj Gibson-Dellavedova dust-up from Game 5 of the Chicago series after which Gibson was ejected.
Miller unfairly portrayed this as a pattern of Dellavedova "going at guys legs, knees and ankles."
So, diving for a loose ball in Game 2, and Korver diving into the same area for the same loose ball, in Miller's eyes is Delly "going at" Korver's ankle.
And, in Miller's eyes, Delly falling over Carroll, while being pulled down by Horford, is Delly "going at" Horford's legs.
At one point, Miller said:
"In my opinion, looking at those three plays, they were all initiated by Dellavedova."
So what?
Dellavedova attempted to block Gibson off the glass to secure a rebound in Game 5 when Gibson pushed him to the ground, triggering that scrum.
Delly dove for a loose ball and Korver dove for the same loose ball in Game 2.
And in this latest incident, Horford pulled Dellavedova down after Delly tried to block him out on a rebound.
You know what all three of those are?
Basketball plays in which a basketball player (Dellavedova) makes a play to attempt to secure the basketball.
That is quite unlike what Boston's Kelly Olynk did to Kevin Love in pulling Love's shoulder out of the socket in Game 4.
Olynky was not making any play on the ball, yet where is the outcry from Miller or Smith about Olynk being a dirty player?
It's interesting that at no point did Miller or Webber note that Horford pulled Dellavedova to the ground.
That's the same ignorance Webber showed when Gibson roughed up Dellavedova from behind on a similar block-out play that led to the scrum that resulted in Gibson's ejection.
At the root of all of this is Dellvedova's refusal to back down from or be intimidated by guys who appear bigger, stronger or faster than him.
You saw it during the regular season when Austin Rivers of the Clippers and Dennis Schroeder of the Hawks both grew visibly agitated with Dellavedova's constant in-your-face defense.
Delly is the gnat you can't shoo away. He's the close-talker who stands eight inches inside your personal comfort zone while addressing you, no matter how many times you back away to gain separation.
Miller is absolutely dead-on in his assessment of Dellavedova as, "an irritant."
The NBA, though, is not a league where the hustler or scrapper is celebrated. The only player with limited abilities who garners any respect at all is the brute, like Rick Mahorn, Charles Oakley or Kendrick Perkins.
They look the part. Delly doesn't.
Smith doubled down on the unfair accusations during TNT's halftime show with his dismissive tone in discussing Dellavedova.
"No disrespect," Smith said, which usually means a disrespectful comment is coming next. "He's going for the ball. He's hustling and all of that. But, NBA players have a sensitivity to all of that. The first time, you get away with it. Until the second time."
NBA players have, "a sensitivity," to hustle, huh?
That's probably true, but it wasn't always so.
Austin Carr, speaking with Campy Russell on the FoxSportsOhio post-game, said this:
"To me, there is no substitute for (Dellavedova's) style. You and I saw a lot of guys like him when we played. They've kind of weeded those guys out of the league right now. Delly, there's nothing wrong with his style of play....He just stays on you and he has limitless energy, so that means he's going to be on you all the time."
Carr nailed it...they have weeded guys like Dellavedova out of the NBA.
Back to Smith, and his derisive, "He's hustling and
all of that."
What does, "all of that," mean?
It means Smith -- and likely Miller, too -- have no respect for Dellavedova because he doesn't fit their preconceived notion of what an NBA player should be.
Delly played at St. Mary's. He was undrafted. He's not exceptionally fast and he's not a lights-out shooter. He doesn't do anything spectacularly, and you won't see him dunk on the SportsCenter Top 10.
And there's something else at work here, too.
Miller and Smith are willing to insinuate Dellavedova is a dirty player because neither analyst is concerned that Delly will ever become important enough that they'll need access to him.
There is no way either Miller or Smith would paint an NBA star -- say, Joakim Noah, for instance -- as a dirty player because they wouldn't want to offend him and get shut out of that player's world.
Have you heard one peep of conversation from Miller, Smith or any TNT broadcaster questioning Kyrie Irving for sitting out with tendonitis, while LeBron James heroically plays through knee and ankle injuries, willing his team to victory?
Of course, not, because Smith, Miller, Webber and none of their colleagues want to risk offending Irving, because they know they will need access to Irving some day down the road.
Dellavedova, and access to him, means nothing to Smith or Miller.
Smith won't even pay Dellavedova the minimal respect of learning how to correctly pronounce his name, which is nothing more than pure and simple lazy broadcasting.
Thankfully, TNT's Charles Barkley brought some perspective to the Dellavedova conversation.
"He's just out there hustling," Barkley said. "That's how he plays."
TNT's NBA coverage would be so much the better if Miller and Smith showed a Dellavedova-style effort in applying fairness and responsibilty to their commentary.
