Ridiculous to suggest this was deliberate.

KL was holding kelly off the ball, they lock arms and it pops. Once that happens i think you can see kelly pull away towards the end when he either hears Kevin yell or Realises he is hurt.

There is so much of this wrestling and arm tangling in basketball these days that officials allow, it is getting worse and worse. I see it at juniors from about under 16 or 18 age group onwards.

Why do officials allow players to grab hold in the first place? Why are players allowed to push and elbow from behind? The officials are wrecking this game for the skill players!

I am not saying the officials are to blame for this injury directly, I am saying the way the game is heading we had better start getting familiar with these injuries.

As for what Olynyk did at the point of injury, it looked to me like he caused it, whether intentional or reckless does not matter, there is no need to grab a player's arm like that!

The dudes a basketball player not a surgeon. No way he knows the exact way to dislocate someone's arm. Sure he shouldn't have held so long but absolutely not deliberately trying to dislocate an elbow.

What was olynyk trying to do if he wasn't being intentional? Very cheap shot. If it was Metta World Peace he would be booted from the league.

I know how to roll my own ankle but wouldn't have a clue how to grab someone's ankle and roll it for them. He definitely knows about injuries but I doubt he knows how to inflict them on someone. That being said, the shoulder is like a basketball sitting on a plate in terms of its anatomy and it's very easy to dislocate. I doubt kelly tried to do it on purpose but it did happen and he needs to be punished even if it was an accident

There's a difference between:
- Using 'illegal' (in terms of basketball) means to gain an advantage.
- Genuinely trying to hurt someone.

There's no question Olynyk wasn't legally trying to get the ball. It's quite obvious he was trying to pull Love out of the way. But to then suggest that he deliberately tried to injure him, and especially to that extent, is just absurd

It looks like he had a brain fade. He got entangled with Love and unfortunately popped his shoulder out. It wasn't like he walked up off the ball, slipped his arm through and yanked his wrist. It's similar to boxing out, trying to pop someone in the chest and breaking someone's nose by accident. So guilty for reckless play, not guilty causing harm with intent.

I think we've found some pretty handy candidates for the AFLs match review panel in this thread.

I love how OP says "it doesn't matter who you support" then the first two people disagree with him so he questions who they support......and then rants about some other crap for a dozen posts.

If cavs want this type of thing stamped out of the game then how about they hold the same standards for Perkins and Smith. Their acts were low blows, especially Smiths, and didn't need to happen.

So if they want they type of play dealt with why don't they suspend those two?

I agree with the above posters about the bigger picture here and how appalling our local officiating is in the holding and pushing by defenders, especially in the paint.

When will our referees be told to stop warning defenders all game and start blowing your FREAKING WHISTLE!

You know guys, that bloody thing hanging around yer neck??

Definitely looks like a slight second movement to yank... as the shoulder pops. Its basketball, heat of the moment stuff, but clearly its what caused the shoulder to pop.

Doesn't look good no matter how you look at it.

Puts a dampner on the playoffs because the West finals will be the finals. Why even bother with the East now.

GSW in 4 for a complete blowout finals.

My pick at start of season was memphis so I'm sticking with them. They had offensive weapons and a great interior and perimeter defender.

As much as I hate to say it don't count out clippers also. Please Spurs knock them out!

Tornado, if that was the case why did the NBA just suspend him for 1 match? Nothing in it my arse!

Love pushed off then you see Kelly tries to grapple but his arm slips down and the grab goes onto the lower arm creating the weird angle, unfortunate incident.

Could nearly argue love was fending off illegally, just a basketball incident. Dont let them grapple so much and the issue is gone.

Not the end of the story, the story is that players are allowed to hold, grapple and push. Where the hell do you find that in the rule book?!

Grappling etc is all part of the game. You obv have only just started to watch basketball recently. Have you ever played basketball? If you had either watched or played basketball at a reasonable level, ever cut through the key, or if you had ever defended a post player, you would know that this grappling takes place all the time. Have you watched the play from beginning to end? If you had you would see that Love had KO in an arm lock at the start, Ko did the exact same thing but decided to tug on loves arm to prevent him from getting possession. Again, accident end of story. If you Think there was any malice in that play what so ever you might as well go live with tinker bell in never never land.

Anon^ please find the rule that allows grappling in the FIBA rules for Basketball or in fact the NBA hybrid, when you do your argument will be vindicated.

Until then please give my regards to Alice in your little wonderland!

No one is challenging what happens on court and the way the game is being played, what some are saying is that the rules are not being officiated accordingly and this is the result.

499 who said this - Have you ever played basketball? If you had either watched or played basketball at a reasonable level, ever cut through the key, or if you had ever defended a post player, you would know that this grappling takes place all the time.

You must be either an official or a guard, you have no idea mate! Everyone know what is going on, the point here is should it be going on?

Holds are more dangerous and risk of creating injury in moving situations than most other indiscretions so should also draw special attention as intentional on the drive to the basket in air time. Put the bans and costs upfront and make them big to make a statement that from here on in, holds will be penalised heavily. This is peoples health and safety and with kids role modelling off these stars of the nba it filters through to those who are young or can not afford an injury so devastating financially and physically as they need to secure paid work in the future. Holds and slicing players down on the drive are seen regularly at junior level and should be stamped out. This is not footy and players chose basketball and part of that is the supposed clean game it should be.

I'm struggling to think of other instances where holding someone resulted in serious injury. Fair bit of over-reacting going on in this thread.

While it doesnt have the same levels of physicality that football does, basketball is still a contact sport.

I think people are over reacting because Love got injured on the play. If he didnt get injured , we are not even talking about this. like i said above holding happens all the time. If you called every bit of physical contact that happens in a game of bball a foul (like you prob are supposed to in the rule book) then you would be playing netball not basketball.

to the above, in league play yep i would play guard or SF. Pick up , i play all over the court. Guard big men etc. When you are guarding some one in the paint, guess what , grappling takes place. No one trying to hurt anyone, just jockeying for position. whether it "should" be allowed or shouldnt be allowed, is not up to me. The fact of the matter is that it DOES take place.

Again, im not sure if anyone here can name another time in history where a play like this has occurred and some ones arm got pulled from the socket....should players not be able to contest a loose ball with there arms up, because Conley got a facial fracture...how about all the things that lead to injuries to players, should there be a rule against running because so and so a player blew there Achilles....no....shit happens...

"You say that every call of contact should be made, according to the rule book "

No he didn't.

Aaargh, yeah, he did in context.

'If you called every bit of physical contact that happens in a game of bball a foul (like you prob are supposed to in the rule book) then you would be playing netball not basketball.'

He said IF, not that it should be.

thanks for the attempted insults bear.

i did say that things happen and it isnt up to me what is called in a game. thats true. I cant control what a ref calls in a game that i play in. I definately cant control what refs call in an NBA game.

The arguments you and some others above are making about contact and "doing something about grappling" etc make it clear to me that, no ,you dont understand what takes place as far as grappling goes in a basketball game. Hence my need to spell it out.

If grappling wasnt in the rules then it would be called, wouldnt it? maybe its under establishing position or something. All i am saying is it happens. People generally dont get injured by it.

This was an accident.

No it prob wasnt in the spirit of the game for KO to pull Love away from the ball.

However the grappling part prob is in the spirit of the game. Just goes with the territory. its never with the intent to hurt anybody or do "judo". just to get position.

Like i said if you want to stop everything that will lead to an injury in sport it would be a pretty boring activity to play and or watch.

That is the point anon^, it was illegal contact. Why can't you see that?

face palm

i can see that him pulling the arm was "illegal contact"

but the grappling part i cant see a problem with.

Nor was the play intended to hurt Love.

Some people above have a problem with the grappling and are also saying that it was intended to injure. i am saying it wasnt.

Those of us who have played know how hard it is to employ the skills necessary to catch the ball and dribble it while attempting to make some move to score or create play. Even those of us who have coached or watch the game closely understand the level of balance and skill required.

This is not an easy skill and with the pressure of a defender covering your point of attack or reaching out and upwards with hands to block the ball it makes it harder still. Secondary help will also make it harder again.

In the key you have limited time and officials will sometimes be reminded by your opponents that you are taking more than the usual 3 seconds to do something with or without the ball, especially if you tend to dominate games due to your size and or skill.

Defenders don't have to worry about travelling as they can move any which way and the ball isn't hindering them as they don't have to worry about it. They are not however permitted to push, grab, hold or slap you as far as the rule book is concerned.

Defenders should slide, hold their ground and play in a vertical cylinder to apply pressure and if they have the chance or the athleticism they can block your shot attempt or even try to strip you of the ball. All this can be done legally, within the rules.

Unfortunately I see too many times, here and on the TV that a defender can in fact lock arms, they can push from behind, they block the run of the player making a cut in the key and they can pull a player out of the way or hold them hindering opportunity and breaking their balance.

(I am not even going to expand on other illegal tactics and the issues created by continuous elbow throwing, standing on toes or jabbing into a player's lower back).

What all this does is not seen immediately, it is not deemed to be problematic to officials or anyone who doesn't know what the end result will be over time. Players become frustrated and do something that eventually may be called as a tech' foul or unsportsmanlike. Games can get out of hand and of course injury is a risk!

It shouldn't get to this stage and the officiating is largely to blame, unfortunately. I have spoken to officials here in Australia about this behaviour and even some referee coaches who monitor and teach officials during games.

Unfortunately their opinion sometimes includes comments like, 'they are big boys and they like it rough.' or 'They are big enough to take a hit or two.'

What a shame this attitude exists and we can't clean the game up to a point where we can all enjoy the skill and ability young kids are being taught, but by about 16 years of age start to become frustrated and disillusioned by.

Of course some contact is necessary, I would never advocate no contact or over officiating. There is obvious illegal contact however that seems to just go by without being addressed and it is destroying the game, making kids leave the game and injuring players over long term battering or through accidental or reckless acts like the one being discussed here.

I don't know the answer or how this can be rectified, I just know what is causing the problem, why can't our referee advisors and those in power to do something about it? Why can't they see what I see, bugger if I know!