I wasn’t shocked that the Rockets received suspensions from the incident in Los Angeles Monday night, but it was surprising that Blake Griffin received no punishment at all for targeting coach Mike D’Antoni and bumping him on the way up the floor.
Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, claimed that the contact was “minimal” and that Griffin was inbounds while D’Antoni was right on the line.
The Rockets believe VanDeWeghe got this wrong, feeling the move was intentional. Now looking at Griffin’s history, it’s even more surprising that VanDeWeghe didn’t act.