Dwyane Wade Says ‘Nothing Malicious’ About Blow to Lance Stephenson’s Head (VIDEO)

Prior to Game 3, the NBA upgraded Dwyane Wade’s Game 2 foul to a flagrant one. Wade, after smacking Lance Stephenson in the head with a flying forearm in the open court, said it was an accident. Per the Miami Herald: “Wade said he was never worried about being suspended because ‘it wasn’t intentional.’ … ‘There was nothing malicious about it,’ Wade said. ‘It’s an athletic game and it was an athletic move, but unfortunately my arms went back. But there wasn’t nothing there. Lance Stephenson and me don’t have that type of history.’ Still, Wade said he wasn’t surprised the NBA tagged him retroactively with a flagrant foul because ‘if you’re not there in the moment, it looks totally different than it does on the film. But I honestly didn’t know what they were talking about when it was brought to me,’ Wade said. Wade refused to answer a question about whether he thought Stephenson embellished his injury. After Wade’s forearm made contact with Stephenson’s head, Stephenson rolled away from the play and held his head. Stephenson was uninjured and said before Game 3 that he was surprised by the collision. He stopped short of calling it a dirty play with the intention to hurt him.”