The NBA released an official statement Monday, announcing that Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love has been suspended for two games after stomping on Rockets forward Luis Scola’s face in their game on Saturday.
In making the announcement, NBA executive vice-president Stu Jackson said the incident had been upgraded by the league office to a flagrant foul two.
The incident occurred with 8:34 to play in the third quarter of Minnesota’s 100-91 victory over Houston in Minneapolis.
Scola and Love had tangled first on the Timberwolves’ offensive end, wrangling for a rebound. The tussle between the two physical players continued in the Rockets’ end, with Scola posting up Love.
Scola first had the ball swiped by a hard whack from Love, then tumbled to the floor. Love stomped on Scola, in the throat/upper shoulder area, before heading back up the floor. No foul was called on the play, with Love credited for a steal.
At the other end, the Rockets bench was called for a technical foul, and the contest became increasingly physical from that point onwards.
On Saturday, Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman said he was pleased his players didn’t back down from a physical challenge.
“You have to be mentally tough to play through anything,” Adelman said.
Love said via Twitter on Monday, however, that he had gone too far.
“I want to publicly apologise to Luis Scola and the Houston Rockets,” he said. “My intention is to never hurt another player on the basketball court…. I’ve always had the utmost respect for the game of basketball and all of my opponents.”
Due to the suspension, Love – who is averaging 25.0 points and 13.7 rebounds per contest this season – will miss Tuesday’s home game against the Sacramento Kings and Wednesday’s game at the Memphis Grizzlies.
Here is a video clip of Kevin Love stomping on Luis Scola’s face:
Have you lost any respect for Kevin Love after the Scola face stomp incident? Do you think a 2 game suspension was enough punishment for the forward’s actions?
