by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni
The news came down from the League yesterday afternoon, and it wasn’t exactly shocking. KG’s elbow connected with Quentin Richardson’s face late in Game 1, a foolish act seen by millions around the world. Given its recent history and reactions to similar incidents, the NBA had no choice but to suspend Kevin for Game 2 of the series.
While there was really no question as to what his punishment would be, the only item of interest left was the reaction from others from Garnett’s behavior. Let’s just say that his opponents are less than impressed.
Joakim Noah, the floor is yours. From Chicago Breaking Sports:
“I’m going to say it: He’s a dirty player,” Noah said following Bulls practice Sunday.
“I don’t make the decisions,” Noah said. “But he’s always swinging elbows man. I’m hurting right now because of an elbow he threw. It’s unbelievable. He’s a dirty player. It’s one thing to be competitive and compete. But don’t be a dirty player man. He’s a dirty player. That’s messed up. I’m really excited about that (Heat-Celtics) series. It’s going to be fun. I hope they put (Jamaal) Magloire in.”
Jamaal Magloire is a rarely-used big man for the Heat, with the obvious implication that he would foul Garnett hard. “He knows what he’s doing,” Noah said. “It’s messed up. It’s wrong. It’s not right. And then after that to say … whatever I shouldn’t even be talking about this stuff. It’s crazy.”
It’s a shame the Bulls have virtually no chance of getting out of their series with Cleveland for the chance to meet up with the Celtics in the second round.
Q-Rich (whose bank account suffered a $35K hit from the NBA) also did not have anything nice to say about Garnett and teammate Paul Pierce, labeling the two of them as “actresses.”
The only person who seems to have anything nice to say about KG these days is Michael Beasley (who received compliments from the vet.) One gets the feeling that this will change as the series progresses.