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Should NBA Start Protecting LeBron James More Against Hard Fouls?

By Josh Hill

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LeBron James was on the receiving end of another hard foul against the Toronto Raptors, and it may be time for the NBA to step in and do something about this. 

In two of the last three games, LeBron James has been on the receiving end of a hard foul that was ridiculous and outlandish in just about every way.

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On Sunday night, James Harden went after LeBron by kicking him in the groin — something that resulted in a one game suspension for the Rockets guard. But that didn’t bother Jonas Valanciunas, who went after LeBron James with another hard foul that resulted in a Flagerant One and could lead to a suspension.

The question here is whether or not the NBA should indeed go through with and suspend Valanciunas for basically choke checking LeBron James to stop him from driving to the bucket.

That doesn’t look like a basketball play, and that’s why it was assessed as a Flagrant One. Valanciunas wasn’t kicked out of the game, but if he’s suspended it’s going to send a strong message to the rest of the NBA that LeBron James is not a rag doll who will go unprotected.

The NBA needs to suspend Jonas Valanciunas for that very reason too. If you can’t beat him, hurt him is the message that is being sent out to the rest of the league and that’s absolutely dangerous in every way.

Harden’s foul on LeBron was in no way a basketball play and that’s why it deserved a suspension and even though it can be defended, Valanciunas’ play was dirty too. It’s starting a slippery slope that LeBron can be taken out if he can be taken down and that’s going to be a line of thinking that only increases as the postseason nears and begins.

LeBron James is critical to the Cavaliers winning a title, and teams know that. No one wants the NBA to protect LeBron James the way that the NFL protects their quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers but there needs to be something done.

This isn’t just about LeBron too. We saw a hard foul on Goran Dragic the other night when he played the Phoenix Suns and hard fouls happen all the time. They may be a part of the game but they can’t get out of control and there seems to be a pattern developing with players who are not afraid to go hard at LeBron — and that’s going to eventually end with someone getting hurt.

LeBron James can’t be babied by the NBA and solely protected, but something needs to happen as these hard fouls can’t continue. Someone is going to get hurt and those hard foul can’t end up defining a team’s season this late in the year.

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