The New Orleans Pelicans and Miami Heat scuffled late in their game Friday night, with players angrily pushing and shoving, but it’s possible no one was more animated than Pelicans TV analyst Antonio Daniels.
The skirmish broke out early in the fourth quarter. Pelicans star Zion Williamson grabbed a loose ball in the lane, put up a shot, and got knocked down by Heat forward Kevin Love.
Williamson got to his feet and walked away, but players on both sides rushed together when Heat star Jimmy Butler and the Pelicans’ Naji Marshall went at it. The scuffle moved to the area around the scorer’s table, got settled down momentarily, then erupted again.
“See, this is what happens! This is what happens!” Daniels said during the Bally Sports New Orleans broadcast.
“Uh oh, uh oh — this is Jimmy Butler and Naji,” Daniels continued, the brawl’s escalation interrupting him.
Finally, Daniels got a chance to finish his thought, even as players continued pushing and shoving.
“This is what happens when officials don’t call fouls! This is what happens!” he said.
“They let it go,” play-by-play man Joel Meyers agreed.
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“It’s unfortunate it got to this point, because the officials let it go,” Meyers concluded.
It marked the second time Friday that Daniels had come to Williamson’s defense. Earlier in the day, after ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith once again criticized Williamson’s weight, Daniels called Smith’s take “lazy” and “inappropriate.”
[Bally Sports; Photo Credit: Bally Sports New Orleans]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.