Dwight Howard was fined $35, 000 by the NBA in another case of how the league has gone soft.
Howard prevented Denver’s projectile Kenneth Faried from scoring in the lane Wednesday night by blocking his path with his body and bringing down two hands against Faried’s arms as he was airborne.
Not only was a foul called on the Los Angeles Lakers center, but a flagrant 2 foul was called, he was ejected and later fined for the used-to-be valued act of protecting the basket.
Faried fell to the floor, which happens in basketball, and was not injured. He stayed in the game.
Howard went to the locker room with still 5:02 left in the third quarter, miffed that a defensive play once considered a “hard foul” wrought him ejection. Without their all-star center, the Lakers went on to have their six-game winning streak snapped, 126-114.
When it was done, Howard was almost amused at how such a play could result in being thrown out of the game. He did not even know a fine would come the next day.
“I was surprised it was a flagrant 2,” he said. “My intention was never to hurt Faried. I like the young fellow and my intention was just to foul. I come down the lane, somebody is going to foul me hard, put me on the free-throw line and make me shoot free throws. It was the same kind of thing.”
For his part, Faried said Howard might have been frustrated and that the 7-foot center could see the eagerness he had to jam the ball over Howard.
“He saw my eyes. I wasn’t going to back down. I wasn’t going to try to float it,” Faried said. “I was going to try to dunk on him. He saw it. That’s why he put his hand directly in my face.”
