Charlotte's Josh McRoberts should consider himself lucky to be playing in the NBA this millenium.
Just hours after he took out LeBron James with a flying-elbow to the neck the league saw fit to fine him $20,000 for during Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series, the Miami Heat star told reporters of all the hard fouls he's absorbed this season "if this was the 1980s, I'd come up swinging."
LeBron on not retaliating to hard fouls: "If this was the 1980s, I'd come up swinging."
— Michael Wallace (@WallaceNBA_ESPN) April 25, 2014
Indeed, the 6-foot-8, 260 pound, four-time MVP has taken as many big hits this season as he has at any point in his 10-year career. Back in February, he was forced to wear a protective mask for several games after Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka broke his nose on a drive to the basket.
Though he has since been fined, the 6-foot-10, 240 pound McRoberts was only called for a personal foul on the floor, confusing James' teammates all the more about how games involving the league's biggest star are now be officiated.
"I played with another guy that handled it very well," Dwyane Wade told the Sun-Sentinel. "Shaq, he handled it well. He was just a guy that just got beat down."
LeBron donning protective mask for return?
Later, James complained about not being able to catch his breath, prompting Wade to add "the tough part about LeBron is, a gift for him is he's 6-8, 260 and a curse that he's 6-8, 260. He won't get the certain looks when it comes to hard fouls but other people will. It's unfortunate. Hopefully, nothing ever happens where he gets hurt but he can take it."
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