http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/05/08/sam-cassell-nba-is-protecting-lebron-james/ Sam Cassell: NBA Is Protecting LeBron James Brett EdwardsPosted May 8th 2008 1:00PM by Brett Edwards Filed under: Celtics, Cavaliers, NBA Gossip, NBA Playoffs Sam Cassell was called for a flagrant foul on Lebron James halfway through the second quarter of the Celtics' Game 1 win over the Cavs. At the time, when they showed the replay, it looked to me to be a flagrant because once LeBron got past Sam, Cassell grabbed James' shoulder to stop him from getting a shot up. Cassell thinks it was a pretty weak call, and that the NBA is protecting its superstars like never before. Cassell, who broke into the league during the rough-and-tumble mid-1990s, said the NBA is protecting Cavaliers star LeBron James in a way it never did with Michael Jordan. "Wow. It's just different right now. They gave me a flagrant-1 foul, and no way in the world was it a flagrant-1 foul. I'm going to call [NBA vice president] Stu [ Jackson] and see what he thinks about that. That's not a flagrant-1 foul at all. Back in the day, a flagrant-1 was bloodshed. Now, you can just grab somebody . . . It's the new NBA." At first glance, Cassell's seems to be right, in that all he did was grab LeBron. But on the bloodshed part, he may have gotten it wrong. Because according to James, the play resulted in him receiving a cut to his upper lip. ''Want me to show you?'' he said to a Cavs PR representative who had asked (at my request) where he was hit on Boston Celtics guard Sam Cassell's flagrant foul Tuesday night. James then revealed the cut that he received inside his mouth as he drove to the basket. So is the NBA trying to cut down on the physical play more now than they did in the past? Absolutely. And with that in mind, should this have been called a flagrant foul? Yes, because Sam wasn't making a play on the ball, he was simply trying to ensure that James didn't get a shot off. Cassell's correct that the NBA is trying to protect it's stars more than they used to. And since he's aware of that, he shouldn't be surprised when grabbing a player from behind results in a flagrant foul call.
Sam is too old. That's why he starts his sentence with "back in the day". Sam should retire. Oops! I guess Sam still hasnt got enough 401K with his relatively tiny income.
And back then you could buy a gallon of gas for $1 and change. If Cassell is so fond of the past why doesn't he rock the tiny shorts again?
The article never quoted Sam as saying the NBA was trying to specifically protect LeBron. If he didn't actually say that, this does a disservice to Sam. The writer puts those words in his mouth without quoting him. If those words actually came out of his mouth, Sam needs to just shut up and play.
Sam's probably playing for the love of the game like Dikembe the only reason why the ref's called that call is because they are probably paid by Nike and some other sponsers to protect Lebron from getting any ***** so they can just market him!
What the article also failed to mention is that once Sam learned of Lebron's cut he made his way to the Cavs' locker room and with a glowing pointer finger healed James' cut in seconds.
I wouldn't say Jordan didn't get the same preferential treatment. I think the player that got calls the way Jordan did back in the day was during the Miami/Dallas Finals. Wade was getting those ridiculous calls that Jordan used to get all the time. He's right though: back then you had to be tougher to survive, right tinman?
After NBA implemented this hand check rule, u know the league is getting sissy. The hand check rule basically protecting and helping the SuperStar Players which majority of them are guards! Hand check rule basically means u cant touch the guard at all!
JUSTICE!! http://news.bostonherald.com/sports...g?articleid=1092862&srvc=home&position=recent Call reversed James may have a cut on the inside of his lip to prove that it wasn’t a love tap, but the league has rescinded a flagrant 1 foul that was called on Cassell during Game 1 on Tuesday night. The Celtics guard said after Wednesday’s practice that he planned to call Stu Jackson, the league’s discipline czar, in an attempt to have the call nullified. As it turned out, Cassell didn’t even have to call. According to Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge, the league changed the call Wednesday, after the game officials told Ainge following Game 1 the call was bogus.
