Jordan Poole definitely grabbed and pulled Ja Morant’s knee. whether he intended to hurt him is not the issue

The Golden State Warriors outscored the Memphis Grizzlies to lead 2-1 on Saturday, and that may not have been the only defeat Memphis suffered. Ja Morant left the pitch with obvious discomfort in his right knee at 6:19 in the fourth quarter and did not return, and the Grizzlies are quite adamant that Jordan Poole is responsible for Morant’s possible injury.

That game was done with just over seven minutes to play in the game. Morand was in a double team close to half court by Poole and Andrew Wiggins. Poole spoiled the ball and as Morand and Wiggins popped for possession, Poole clearly grabbed Morand’s right knee and pulled it back.

You can see in the screenshot overlay that Morant wrote on Twitter “broke the code” in a clear shot at Steve Kerr, who punched “broke the code” to Dillon Brooks right and left since Brooks pulled out an airborne Gary Payton II. who broke his elbow early in game 2 with a wild swing on his head. Morant quickly deleted the tweet, but the Grizzlies’s feelings in this Poole game are clear.

“We just watched the replay,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins told reporters. “He swallowed a dribble and Jordan Poole grabbed his knee and squeezed it, which triggered whatever was happening, so I’ll be really curious what happens next.”

Jenkins said the Grizzlies would consider Poole’s move in the league, suggesting that the move might be worth suspending, as was the case with Brooks, who was sent off for Game 3 after hitting Payton. .

Of course, everyone with the Warriors laughs at the idea that what Poole did could be considered a dirty game. Stephen Curry said it was no joke that Morant could be hurt, but that there was “no comparison” between what Poole did, which Curry believed was “nothing malicious” and what Brooks did. to Payton, adding that the suggestion that Poole did anything dirty is “total BS.”

So here’s the deal: It’s not BS. You can not watch this video and come to a conclusion other than that Poole definitely grabbed Morand’s knee and pulled it back. Was he trying to hurt Morand? I seriously doubt it. I guess Poole lost the ball and in an impulsive attempt to prevent Morand from getting it back, thus giving a better shot to his teammate, Andrew Wiggins, grabbed Morant’s knee to hold him back.

If Poole had taken Morand’s shirt and taken it back, it would have been just a foul. But he did not snatch his shirt. He grabbed his knee. Then he pulled it. This is dangerous. There are no two ways about it.

Injury intent is not the issue here. Brooks almost certainly had no intention of injuring Peyton. He saw a guy coming in for a dunk and wanted to stop him from doing so. He made a wild swing in an attempt to stop an opponent from scoring, not to hurt the guy. But it hurt him. He took that risk when he decided to move near a man’s head. You are speeding down the highway and you are in a shipwreck that hurts someone, your reckless actions are to blame, even though you did not intend to hurt them from the beginning.

At this point, we hope Morant is not hurt. If so, we do not even know for sure that this was the game that caused the injury. Maybe it was an occupation earlier.

In the end, it does not matter if Poole’s grab on the knee is what actually hurt Morant’s knee or potentially aggravated a previous injury or even if Morant turns out to be injury free, which we all hope is. It only matters what Poole did and the potential he had to hurt an opposing player. The knees are not funny. You can not catch and pull the knees. You can clearly see Morant’s knee bending in the wrong direction.

Players do this impulsive thing at times when trying to gain possession or often when trying desperately to avoid losing possession. Earlier in the game, Desmond Bane lost the ball and in an attempt to prevent Poole from recovering it, fell headlong straight into Poole’s knees.

Earlier in the series, Morant was beaten by a dribbler and bent his knee straight into Curry’s knee and tripped him.

Again, these are impulsive games that happen more than you think. Grayson Allen stumbles on opponents in college. But these are not two mistakes that make the right kind of deal. Just because what Poole did was more subtle than what Brooks did to Peyton does not mean it was not great. Poole called it a “basketball game.” I assure you there is no basketball game that involves grabbing an opponent by the knee and pulling it back. Was Morand injured? Hopefully not. Was Poole trying to hurt Morand? Does not matter. He took the risk with his actions and now, if Memphis really asks the league to consider the possibility of stopping Poole, he may have to pay it.