It wasn’t that bad.
LeBron has to understand when you are as big as he is, you can’t just love tap him. Also don’t say you aren’t going to cry about then do just that.
Maybe I got to protect myself a little bit more, too. … I don’t want to get too much involved in it because I don’t want to cry about it, but it’s a lot of plays that are just not basketball plays. … And I’ve said it before, it’s just not basketball plays. But the referees, they take care of it. They decide what [type of foul] it is or not. That’s what we got rules for. And for me, I need to maintain my focus and understand how important the game is, but at the same time, protect myself as well.
Valanciunas explanation was extremely valid and if you watch the video it backs up his statement.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt him,” Valanciunas said. “I was just trying to stop him from dunking the ball, and I was just protecting the rim, and that’s it. I was just doing my job, protecting the rim, and it doesn’t matter how. … An easy foul is not going to work on that player.”
You can form your own opinions.
H/T Bleacher Report