Worth an Ejection? Stephen A. Smith Gives Take on the LaMelo Ball-Bam Adebayo Play

The Charlotte Hornets took down the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday night, and instead of much of today being filled with praise for the Bugs winning, a lot of the attention has been on the play where LaMelo Ball tripped Heat center Bam Adebayo, which resulted in an injury that he could not play through.

The officials let it go, not calling a foul, allowing play to continue. It wasn't until the Hornets got the ball back and LaMelo slammed home a dunk on a fastbreak before there was a pause in play.

There's been a split reaction from those who watched the game, with some believing the NBA should go as far as suspending LaMelo for their next Play-In game on Friday, while others say that something should have been called, but an ejection or suspension is too far, including First Take's Stephen A. Smith.

"In the end, LaMelo Ball, definitely was the wrong play to make. I don't think it warranted an ejection."

—@stephenasmith on LaMelo Ball tripping Bam Adebayo 👀 pic.twitter.com/B1OKY41p7F
— First Take (@FirstTake) April 15, 2026

"LaMelo Ball is driving to the basket, he does get hit in the head. Bam Adebayo is off one leg, off balance, and falling back, and LaMelo Ball definitely swiped his left leg. There’s no question that he did it, and there’s no question he could have easily been called for a flagrant or whatever. Me personally, I think that it should have been called, but I think an ejection, considering the magnitude of the game, not knowing at the moment that Bam Adebayo would be unable to return, I think that would have been a bit extreme. I think the referees made the right decision in terms of not ejecting him. They could have called a flagrant foul; they could have done that.”

I understand the frustration from Miami. They lost one of their top players, and with him, there's a good chance they find a way to win last night. But Smith is absolutely correct. Tossing Ball or suspending him on Friday is ridiculous. If there's this much divide and it wasn't clear as to what happened, making that bold a call is going too far.

It's not like LaMelo grabbed and yanked or twisted Adebayo. It's hard to tell exactly what happened, even in the slo-mo version of the replay. Did his hand just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time? Did he cause the fall? Was there intent? None of this is clear.

I have a hard time believing that LaMelo was able to bring down a big dude like Adebayo with his non-dominant hand while lying on the ground. It certainly played a role in the injury that he sustained, but as Smith mentioned, Adebayo was already on his way down to the ground. Who knows if the "trip" caused the injury?

If anything, I'd expect the league to retroactively upgrade it to a Flagrant 1 foul.

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