We brought the play to your attention on Wednesday, and at the time, believed that Metta World Peace had gotten away with one, since two days had passed without any word of punishment being handed down from the league office.
We should know better.
The NBA has retroactively slapped World Peace with a flagrant-two foul for the elbow he landed to the head of Kenneth Faried in Monday’s loss to the Nuggets, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.
The play was ignored by officials at the time, but if they had seen it and ruled it the way the league office did three days later, World Peace would have been ejected for his actions.
It’s worth noting that World Peace, along with teammate Dwight Howard, are tied for the league lead in flagrant foul points with five apiece. If either player commits just one more flagrant-one foul during the remainder of the regular season, they will receive a one-game suspension.
All players’ flagrant foul points, as well as technical foul counts, reset to zero at the beginning of the postseason.
