NBA opens review of LaMelo Ball trip that injured Bam Adebayo in Heat play-in loss

The NBA has opened an investigation into Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball’s uncalled trip of Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo in a play-in tournament game, a sequence that led to Adebayo’s lower-back injury and exit from a win-or-go-home matchup.

The incident happened early in the second quarter of Miami’s 127–126 overtime loss to Charlotte on April 14 at Spectrum Center, an elimination game that ended the Heat’s postseason. Adebayo, a multiple-time All-Star and Miami’s defensive anchor, played only 11 minutes before leaving for good.

According to game reports from ESPN and other outlets, Ball’s shot was blocked on the baseline. Adebayo secured the rebound and tried to stay inbounds. Ball fell near Adebayo and, on video, appeared to swipe at Adebayo’s foot, sending the 6-foot-9 center crashing to the floor. Play continued with no whistle, and the Hornets went the other way.

Adebayo stayed down, then exited with what the Heat described as a lower-back injury and did not return. Miami, playing without its starting center in a game that decided its playoff fate, lost by one point in overtime.

The league is now reviewing the sequence as part of a postgame investigation, ESPN reported, citing league sources and reporting linked to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. According to that reporting, NBA League Operations has contacted both the Heat and Hornets and plans to interview Ball.

As part of its standard process, the league can retroactively upgrade contact to a flagrant-1 or flagrant-2 foul after reviewing video. ESPN’s sources said the play could be reclassified that way, though there is doubt that any discipline would extend to a suspension. A final determination is expected in the coming days.

Any action would be retroactive because the three-person officiating crew did not call a foul on Ball in real time and therefore did not review the play during the game.

Crew chief Zach Zarba told a pool reporter that the officials’ hands were tied by the rulebook once they let the play go.

“The play wasn't whistled in real time,” Zarba said, according to ESPN. “So, by rule, our window to review that play then is closed.”

Under NBA rules, referees generally need a foul call on the floor to trigger a replay review for a potential flagrant foul, which covers excessive or unnecessary contact. Without that whistle, league officials can only step in after the game, through the League Operations office that oversees officiating and discipline.

Zarba added that it would be up to that office to decide whether Ball’s actions met the criteria for a flagrant foul upon further review.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra sharply criticized the play afterward, arguing that it crossed a line in a high-stakes postseason environment and should have resulted in Ball’s ejection.

“I don't think it's cute. I don't think it's funny. I think it's a stupid play. It's a dangerous play,” Spoelstra said, via ESPN. “You should be penalized for that. I don't think that belongs in the game. Tripping guys, shenanigans.”

Spoelstra’s comments captured Miami’s frustration that its best player was injured on a play the referees did not whistle, in a game where one basket and one player could swing the season.

Ball, the Hornets’ primary point guard and the franchise’s No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 draft, apologized for the play in his postgame remarks.

“I apologize on that one. I got hit in the head [on the play] and didn't really know where I was,” Ball said, according to ESPN. “But I'm going to check on him, see if he's OK and everything.”

Ball’s explanation is his account of the sequence and stops short of addressing questions about intent, which are central to the league’s review. The NBA typically evaluates whether contact was unnecessary or excessive, not only whether a player meant to cause harm.

The stakes around this case are amplified by the play-in format, which the NBA uses to decide the final postseason spots through a small number of high-pressure games. Any injury to a star in that context can alter a team’s entire year.

They are also sharpened by history between the same players. After Sunday’s game, video resurfaced from a Jan. 14, 2024 meeting between Miami and Charlotte that appeared to show Ball reaching for Adebayo’s leg as Adebayo ran upcourt. That earlier play is not the subject of a formal investigation based on current reporting, but ESPN noted the clip as context for questions about whether Sunday’s trip was isolated or part of a pattern.

Ball finished Sunday’s game with 30 points and 10 assists, including the eventual game-winning layup in overtime. Adebayo watched the Hornets advance from the sideline, sidelined by the fall that has now drawn the league’s scrutiny.