LaMelo Ball confirms he 'tried to apologize' to Bam Adebayo for tripping incident

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Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images Share article1LaMelo Ball closed the chapter of his incident in which he was retroactively fined and issued a Flagrant 2 foul for tripping Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo early in the Hornets’ 127-126 overtime Play-In Tournament win on Tuesday. Ball said that he waited outside the visitors’ locker room for Adebayo to apologize for the incident. But Adebayo was in the shower, and Ball understood the Heat center he might not want to talk to anyone after his team was eliminated. “I tried to apologize and everything,” Ball told reporters before Friday’s Play-In game against the Orlando Magic. “To look out for Bam, mainly to make sure he’s ok. We don’t want nobody hurt in this league ever. As long as he’s good, that helps my mind a little.” Ball swiped at Adebayo’s foot as he was falling, causing him to fall on his back and have to leave the game injured. No foul was called on the play at the time, flagrant or otherwise, and no in-game review was possible because play continued after the possession. After the loss, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said that Ball should have been ejected. Ball ended up hitting the game-winning layup to end Miami’s season and send Charlotte to Friday’s Play-In elimination game against the Orlando Magic. On Thursday, Adebayo said he had yet to receive an apology from Ball. “It didn’t happen,” Adebayo said about talking with Ball after Tuesday’s game. “By that time, I was in the shower trying to figure out what I was going to do next. Obviously, everything happened all at once, and I wanted to be out there. At some point, I’ll see him again, and we’ll have that conversation, and we’ll move on.” Spoelstra, for his part, told reporters Thursday that he “didn’t think that (Ball) needed to be penalized more moving forward.” On Friday, Ball was asked about fans suggesting he committed a dirty play and what it might represent about Ball himself? “I mean it’s all basketball,” Ball said. “I feel like Bam knows we never had nothing going on. I never really had anything with anybody.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Devon Henderson is a staff writer for The Athletic. He has covered the Summer Olympics, College Football Playoffs, and the Men's Final Four while at Arizona State University and was an intern at the Southern California News Group, where he covered the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Sparks, and LAFC. Follow Devon on Twitter @HendersonDevon_