There is still a lot of debate about Stephen Curry‘s injury and how responsible Boston Celtics star Marcus Smart is for it.
Some people think Smart did nothing wrong with the physical play he did that resulted in Curry’s injuring his leg – an injury that could keep him off the court for weeks now.
Other people, including Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, think that Smart went too far and was irresponsible.
And now former NBA great and current analyst Kendrick Perkins has entered the conversation.
Every Coach preach “When you it’s a loose ball… be the first to hit the floor” https://t.co/dqOwjDj9hD
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) March 17, 2022
Taking to Twitter, Perkins said this about Smart: “Every Coach preach ‘When it’s a loose ball…be the first to hit the floor.'”
Is Perkins right?
Was Smart just playing as he should have or did he take things too far?
Smart To Blame?
It’s hard to deny that Smart’s body was the cause of Curry’s injury.
When watching the replay, you can see that a lot of his weight fell right on Curry’s leg and bent it in an awkward, damaging way.
Yet, the intent is important here.
It seems very unlikely that Smart was actually trying to hurt Curry.
It also seems unlikely that he was trying to play dirty but was rather just attempting to grapple for the ball.
Kerr was very upset with Smart but it was in the heat of the moment and he was standing up for one of his star players.
In retrospect, even Kerr can probably see that Curry’s injury wasn’t intentional.
Basketball is a physical game and there have been a million moments like the one between Curry and Smart with two players rolling around on the ground over a loose ball.
This one unfortunately resulted in Curry getting hurt but it doesn’t mean any harmful intentions were a part of it.
NEXT: Jaylen Brown Knew The Celtics Would Turn Things Around
