Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Sports
SportsVideo

Dwyane Wade Suspended Over Kick

Posted byBy ABS Contributor | Published on: CommentsComments (2)

Dwyane Wade denied rumblings that he’s a “dirty player” after he was suspended by the NBA for a game for kicking the Charlotte Bobcats’ Ramon Sessions in the groin in a play in which Sessions was called for a foul, not Wade.

In the fourth quarter of the Miami Heat’s 105-92 over Charlotte Wednesday, Wade  brought the ball up the left sideline, Sessions stepped up to defend him. He impeded Wade’s move to the right by reaching in for the ball and Wade’s left leg flailed into the air and right into Sessions’ lower extremities.

He went down, writhing in pain. It surely hurt more when he learned the foul was called against him.

If you did not know any better,  you would think Wade extended his leg to intentionally kick Sessions. No one can argue that it did not look that way. And apparently Stu Jackson, the league’s executive vice president in charge of dispensing punishment, saw it that way, too, because he slapped Wade with the suspension. So he will miss Friday night’s game in Detroit against the Pistons.

Sessions surely thought it was a cheap shot. “I thought he did it on purpose, and it wasn’t called,” Sessions said after the game.

Wade heard the talk of it being a dirty play and of him being a dirty player and he did not like it. So, he addressed it on Twitter with indignation.

“I’m far from being a dirty player + my intent was never 2 kick Ramon Sessions,” Wade tweeted Thursday night. “I just reacted to the contact that I got from him…. More than anything, I think of my boys watchin me be4 retaliating 2ward any player. Im moving 4ward + ready 2 get back on the court in MIL.”

Wade did not appeal the suspension, which could say something about intent. Or it could be that he understands how the play looked and is accepting the league’s ruling.

 

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top