The referee truly showed his professionalism, quickly calling for the team doctors.

Soon, the Heat staff prepared a stretcher, and the Lakers staff prepared ice packs, all of which were available in the locker rooms.

The Heat weren’t strangers to foul play. Moning’s fouls, though not as famous as Malone’s, were never less ruthless.

Under Pat Riley’s guidance, Kurt Thomas’s innate affinity for violence quickly emerged. Despite being a rookie who had played less than half a season, his level of dirty play was already the worst in the Heat.

So, although sudden, it was not surprising that Kurt Thomas would act that way.

Pat Riley never taught a player to commit fouls, nor instructed them to do so, but if a player wanted to, he wouldn’t reject it. In fact, if it were a player from a rival team, he’d even keep those who’d stir up trouble on the court.

However, in this situation, the Heat players were bewildered. Why was the one committing the foul carried off on a stretcher, while the fouled one could walk back to the bench for ice packs?

After both coaches received preliminary diagnostic reports from their respective team doctors and observed the condition of the opposing parties, their first thought was surprisingly the same: "Is this even possible?"

Del Harris was feeling relieved, quickly discarding his earlier anxious and manic expressions, recalling his previous impatience urging the doctors to quickly check... all because of this freak accident!

Pat Riley, on the other hand, wanted to curse! It’s truly embarrassing! It’s bad enough to commit a foul, but to foul oneself in the process?

At this moment the referee played the match replay to determine what kind of foul to call.

Clearly, it was a foul, but since the referee intended to call it a flagrant foul, the situation had to be shown to the spectators and both teams for the decision to seem more convincing.

After being shoved, Kurt Thomas jumped towards Zhang Hao’s side and locked his arm around Zhang Hao’s neck as Zhang Hao was jumping!

When the slow-motion replay reached this scene, the technical table pressed pause to show the details.

The spectators saw this and erupted in shock and curses again.

The Lakers players were all fired up, while the Heat players, despite their history of fouls, felt this move was too vicious—this was a deadly move!

Even though some Heat players couldn’t help but wince or shake their heads, when looking at Zhang Hao, receiving ice and a massage... what kind of luck had to be if after such a foul, you just had your neck pulled? Not even an injury! Because they heard the Lakers doctor telling Lakers coach Del Harris that Zhang Hao likely experienced only dizziness and mild trauma from the neck hit.

Continuing the slow-motion replay, just when Kurt Thomas was locking Zhang Hao’s neck to pull him down, somehow, Kurt Thomas changed from grabbing Zhang Hao’s neck to his shoulder, causing Zhang Hao to hit Kurt Thomas’s neck with his head upon falling...

At this, everyone understood why Kurt Thomas was holding his neck after falling, looking worse than Zhang Hao, who was locked by the throat. He had white eyes and drooling lips.

But why did this happen?

Did Kurt Thomas have a change of heart, stopping the lock hold, grabbing Zhang Hao’s shoulder, and ultimately injuring himself?

Soon, another camera angle replay solved everyone’s confusion.

When Kurt Thomas jumped up to lock Zhang Hao’s throat and pull him down, he slipped upon landing, causing his lower body to fall under Zhang Hao’s body due to the feedback from exertion. In panic, Kurt Thomas grabbed Zhang Hao’s shoulder for support, which then led Zhang Hao’s head to crash into his neck.

But this wasn’t Kurt Thomas’s worst plight. The worst was Zhang Hao’s instinctive protective action when losing balance, resulting in his elbow landing squarely on Kurt Thomas’s waist!

Upon seeing this, many on-site audibly gasped!

In that moment, quite a few started feeling sympathy for Kurt Thomas...

Because it was really pitiful!

Yet, soon enough, everyone thought Kurt Thomas deserved it! Even some Heat players felt this way.

After all, despite the coach’s acquiescence and the team culture, not everyone in the team agreed with this kind of conduct.

Obviously, Kurt Thomas couldn’t stop Zhang Hao, resorted to foul intentions, aimed at fouling Zhang Hao, and acted on it, pulling Zhang Hao down. However, in pulling Zhang Hao down, he reaped what he sowed, resulting in two hits himself.

Originally, such a foul action should warrant a Flagrant 2 and direct ejection for Kurt Thomas; otherwise, if he stayed on the court, a brawl would be inevitable. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

But Kurt Thomas had already been carried off, seemingly unable to return, and the head referee issued a penalty: a flagrant foul, with the Lakers awarded two free throws and possession.

A standard penalty, though not a Flagrant 2, the Lakers didn’t mind, and suspension decisions weren’t limited to this game alone; Kurt Thomas looked unlikely to return tonight anyway. Del Harris received an update from the staff—Heat staff requested assistance from the Lakers medical team...