Brendan Haywood will not be suspended for the hard foul he committed on Lebron James in Game 2 in Cleveland. Haywood was hit with a flagrant 2 foul and ejected in the third quarter.
“I feared it could have been worse,” Haywood said. “I was hoping the league wouldn’t take action, but you never know. It’s one of the star players, being LeBron James, I thought they might react a little bit differently. I mean, nothing was meant behind the foul. It was a bang-bang play. He said it himself: He is 6-9, 260, and if you go out there and try and foul him lightly, he is going to score the basketball.”
Haywood said he apologized to James after the game.
“If you go out and try to foul him lightly, he’s gonna score the basketball.” Haywood said. “There was nothing malicious. Actually I apologized to LeBron James. I didn’t mean to hurt him. It’s not one of those type of things. It’s one of those things, I’ve been instructed to give him hard fouls so he’s not to get highlight dunks in the half-court, so I’ve got to do what my coaching staff tells me to do if I’m gonna stay out there on the court.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m827UUOsN7Y[/youtube]