NBA Magnifying Glass: Does James s foul on Edwards belong to "gamers in one"?

Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-116 away in the playoffs G4, and fell 1-3 in the series, completely falling into danger and facing an elimination crisis.

Edwards scored 43 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in this game and crushed the Lakers' defense line. He broke through with the ball at the last moment and was out of bounds by James. Timberwolves coach Fincher applied for a challenge. After watching the video, the referee changed the decision to James's foul when he cut the ball. Edwards got two free throws and made all free throws to secure the victory. However, James had objections to this. He said after the game that he did not make a foul on his cutting ball.

James said: "Similar rounds often happen. The referee always says that the players are one. I think the hands are part of the ball. I touched his ball holder, and then the ball went out of bounds when he hit him."

"I was 100% sure that the challenge could be successful. I looked at the referee and said that I wanted to challenge this penalty. It was James' foul on me that caused the ball to go out of bounds." Edwards said, "I lowered the center of gravity when I held the ball. James couldn't reach the ball at all when he grabbed the ball. He could only hit my arm."

So does James' cutting ball in line with the rules of the players being one?

NBA Rules Manual states: "Contact which occurs on the hand of the offensive player, while that part of the hand is in contact with the ball, is legal."

This rule clearly states that contact caused by the offensive player and the ball is compliant. That is to say, if the contact part does not contact the ball, it will not be regarded as part of the ball. To put it simply, only the part that the ball holder is in contact with the ball will not be fouled when he is hit, while the part that the ball holder is not in contact with the ball will inevitably be foul when he is hit.

"Referee plays the center slow motion image"

Return to James's round of cutting the ball, James obviously touched Edwards' wrist position when cutting the ball. This part of the position does not belong to the "ball holder part of the offensive player's contact with the ball", so it is not applicable to the player's integrated rule. There is no problem with the Timberwolves' challenge and re-judging the James foul.

Last playoffs, Irving's round of chasing the hat, can be regarded as a typical case of the rules of players' integration. At that time, Irving hit the back of the hand of Leonard's holding the ball while chasing the hat. After watching the video, the referee changed the blocking of Irving successfully.