NBA defends appeal of LaMelo Ball’s controversial play in Hornets-76ers

On By Pranco

Sunday night’s overtime thriller between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Charlotte Hornets involved a series that was the talk of the NBA for a while — mostly in defense of the Sixers.

Hornets star LaMelo Ball was whistled for a foul when he tried to steal the ball away from Sixers rookie Jared McCain in overtime. For a moment, McCain was headed to the line, but the Hornets decided to challenge the play in hopes of denying McCain the opportunity to hit some free throws.

After a lengthy review process, officials quashed the original appeal. As expected, the Sixers and the home crowd at the Wells Fargo Center were not pleased.

After the match the Crew Chief explained the decision to reverse the call.

“After watching the replay review, it was clear and conclusive that LaMelo Ball deflected the ball with his left hand before there was any contact,” Sunday Crew Chief Courtney Kirkland said. “Because it was clear and convincing, we were able to overturn the call. … It wasn’t a foul because (LaMelo Ball) legally turned the ball away from the offensive player.”

Monday has the NBA has released the L2M report about the game, with a paragraph-long explanation of why Ball’s steal from McCain was in fact legal.

“Ball is in a legal defensive position in McCain’s path as McCain attempts a basketball move to get around him, causing body contact. The ball simultaneously reaches forward and releases the ball from McCain’s control. The body contact on the play, which appears to be a foul, is largely caused by McCain as he encounters Ball. And although Ball crosses paths with McCain, he does not illegally impede McCain’s progress as he gets to the ball and dislodges it.”

The NBA doesn’t always defend its officials’ decisions based on the reports, but the league stands by reversing the original decision.

Luckily for the Sixers, it doesn’t really matter in the end. Ultimately, they won the narrow victory in extra time.

The Sixers defeated the Hornets 107-105. McCain finished the game with 27 points in 31 minutes of action. As for Ball, he scored 38 points in 40 minutes. The Hornets moved to 4-6 on the year, while the Sixers collected win No. 2 and won at home for the first time this year.

The 76ers will be on the floor again on Tuesday to host the New York Knicks for the first NBA Cup action of the 2024-2025 NBA season.