Giannis Should Have Been Called For a Foul on Kyrie Irving Injury Play
Kyrie Irving appeared to suffer a pretty serious ankle injury during Game 4 of the Brooklyn Nets' series against the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday afternoon. It also looked like Giannis Antetokounmpo should have been called for a foul on the play that caused the injury.
Irving was injured on a layup, and as he went up on the play, Giannis undercut him and didn't give him room to land. Kyrie's right foot landed on Antetokounmpo's foot and caused it to roll over.
Check out a few angles of it:
Kyrie Irving goes down hard after the lay-up, grabs his right leg.
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 13, 2021
Hope it's nothing serious ??pic.twitter.com/Nb47vIsIYb
Kyrie headed to the locker room after landing awkwardly on his right ankle? pic.twitter.com/MstoOwTmSK
— Zion Williamson FanPage (@zionheadlines) June 13, 2021
Defenders have to give offensive players room to land when they go up for a shot. By sliding in under him -- whether intentionally or not -- Giannis committed a foul. A layup should be treated the same way a 3-point shot is. Defenders can't do that and this is the exact reason why.
The NBA could go back and retroactively give Antetokounmpo a flagrant foul for it.
Irving was in serious pain on the court after the injury and was even asking training staff to stop touching the ankle because it was in so much pain.
Kyrie was in significant pain while talking to the training staff - twice he asked them to stop touching his ankle until he could take the pressure, and when they first tried to help him up, he asked them to stop due to pain. He's back in the locker room now.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 13, 2021
That was one play that could fundamentally change the complexion of the series. With James Harden out with a hamstring injury and now Irving with an ankle injury, the Nets could be in trouble.