Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Mohammed apologizes for actions
CHICAGO — A few hours after it happened, Chicago Bulls backup center Nazr Mohammed made it know he regretted the decision.
Mohammed was ejected in the second quarter of Friday’s loss to the Miami Heat for shoving LeBron James to the ground. His actions could cause him to miss Monday’s Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the United Center. The Bulls trail the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Mohammed addressed reporters after the game and then took to Twitter to apologize for his actions.
“Hopefully if I’m in the same situation again I will control my emotions but u never know what ur instincts will do,” he tweeted late Friday night.
Mohammed sent out a series of five tweets to say his behavior was unacceptable. He and James got into the altercation with 9 minutes, 29 seconds left in the first half. The players became entangled once crossing midcourt. James, on offense, drew a technical foul after landing an elbow that left Mohammed on the court.
Mohammed responded by shoving James, resulting in an ejection.
“I’m disappointed in myself because I let my teammates down,” he said. “And I’m also disappointed because my son probably was watching the game and I don’twant him to see that type of behavior on the court. I’m also disappointed that it warranted an ejection for a push— when I got pushed down first.”
Mohammed said he was surprised by the ejection because he was only reacting to James. Mohammed went after James before knowing a technical was called.
“I don’t think I should’ve gotten kicked out,” Mohammed said. “It’s playoff basketball. You can’t push a guy down. I was wrong. But to get kicked out, I don’t get that.”
A 14-year veteran, Mohammed pointed out that he isn’t a dirty player. The incident started with what he termed as a “stop-the-break” foul.
“You don’twant a guy to get his arms up,” he said. “You see Nate [Robinson] do it, Kevin Durant do it. Guys do a great job of anticipating when they’re going to get fouled and still get a shot up and make the 3. So I was trying to keep LeBron’s arms down and stop the play so we wouldn’t get the fast break dunk on us because that’s a momentum changer.”
Mohammed said he retaliated only because he felt James threw a cheap shot after being fouled.
“You guys who have been around me know I’m not a dirty player. I’m not an instigator,” Mohammed said. “I’m out there playing hard, physical basketball, theway Iwas taught when I came into the league. A guy is on a break and I tried to stop the break. I got tossed to the ground and I instinctively pushed him. I had to come back into the locker room towatch it because I could not even recall what happened.”
The Bulls were also taken aback by the call. It gave coach Tom Thibodeau more reason to complain about the officiating.
“He hasn’t done anything but play hard,” Thibodeau said of Mohammed. “I’m watching some of the plays with [Udonis] Haslem and [Chris] Andersen and I don’t get it. I didn’t think it warranted an ejection. I understand a flagrant foul. But an ejection? Nope.”
Three Chicago players have been ejected in the physical series compared to none for the Heat. Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah were tossed in Game 2 in Miami.
Thibodeau, who also may be hearing from the league because of his comments, said he noticed the disparity in calls.
“We’re well aware of what’s going on,” Thibodeau said. “I’m watching how things are going. I watch very closely. What I’m seeing is ... we’ll adjust accordingly.”