Miami Vise – Wade foul on Kobe too hard for a NBA All-Star Game

Remind me again…was this the NBA All-Star game or Game 7 of the NBA Finals?

A game known for its friendly and lighthearted nature got unnecessarily chippy when Miami guard Dwayne Wade committed a hard foul on Lakers guard Kobe Bryant as he elevated for a lay-up. The foul fractured Bryant’s nose and resulted in a minor concussion for the Mamba, who expectantly laughed it off the flesh-wound as merely a scratch and came back in the game to knock down his free throws.

Wade swears it wasn’t a dirty play. While it’s doubtful he was actually trying to hurt Kobe, the biggest question is: why was Wade so intent on stopping a routine lay-up in an all-star game? I mean, really?

Wade's hard foul on Kobe in an all-star game was a nose-scratcher to say the least

Watch the play again. There was definitely something extra behind Dwayne Wade’s foul on Kobe Bryant. If you pause the video at 0:20 you can even see Dwight Howard’s eyes widen in surprise (hey, don’t hurt my future teammate!) as Wade commits the dirty foul.

Dwayne Wade, why are you so mad?

• Were you upset Kobe and the West team were dominating most of the game?
• Were you bitter because you knew you had no chance at winning the all-star MVP, despite having a triple-double for the East.
• Were you jealous Kobe surpassed Michael Jordan as the leading scorer in all-star game history?

Whatever it was, Wade’s nose-scratching foul only scratched the surface. After the game, Wade expressed his opinions on the hard foul as well as Kobe’s place in all-star history. While calling Kobe a great player, Wade also dished out three, yes three, back-handed compliments to the Mamba. Who does he think he is, Brett Favre? Wade’s choice words deserve a blog all to themselves and will be analyzed and scrutinized in another post after the Lakers beat the Heat on Sunday.