The Phoenix Suns defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 118-105 in Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals.
Although the outing was fairly competitive in the first half, Phoenix ultimately ran away with it in the second.
Unfortunately, the Suns’ dominant end-of-game performance isn’t what stole the headlines on Wednesday morning. Rather, once again, it was a dirty play by team star Chris Paul.
Video of the incident largely speaks for itself:
CP3 dirty as hell. Right into Giannis’ bad knee. Fuck CP https://t.co/KjPe1Aw7YE
— Richard / HOLIDAY SZN (@r_christensen4) July 7, 2021
Naturally, fans were upset:
This is the reason right here why I don’t want CP3 to win this chip. This should count as intentional hurting
No way he wasn’t aware that he would crash into giannis’s knee. Could’ve gone straight but no
Fouling with malicious intent is not same as smart fouling. #NBAFinals https://t.co/LoIOCqK9Jy
— Golden Boy (@goldenboycurry_) July 7, 2021
Dawg @CP3 dirty as shit man! https://t.co/W4fspAPVP2
— Pistons, dont fuck this up! (@RichardPrince_) July 7, 2021
Dirty ass player https://t.co/vxka1ccPgf
— (@randomkwame) July 7, 2021
Many called for a suspension:
Chris Paul needs to get suspended from the league and J needs to get banned from being able to eat @nba @adamsilver
— – (@JPCRAWFORDD) July 7, 2021
Part of the problem, of course, is that this is a recurring problem with Paul. Earlier in the playoffs he participated in a dirty play that could’ve ended LeBron James’ career.
So will Paul ultimately get suspended for Game 2? It seems unlikely. Mind you, the NBA didn’t even do anything when one player literally fractured another’s wrist. The precedent has clearly been set.
Paul will almost certainly get away with no punishment whatsoever.
Yikes. https://t.co/rP9DViKpei
— Game 7 (@game7__) June 14, 2021
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
