Boston Celtics forward Kelly Olynyk isn't exactly beloved in Ohio at the moment. Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has a dislocated shoulder thanks to an incident involving Olynyk, and Love called it a "bush-league" play after it happened, adding that he had no doubt it was done on purpose.
In an interview with the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach, Olynyk disputed that it was malicious but said he has tried to reach out to Love to say he's sorry about what happened.
“I'd love to obviously apologize to him for the misfortune and let him know it's definitely not my intent, at all,” Olynyk told the Globe. “Just wish him well and hopefully he has a very speedy recovery and can come back and help that team win.”
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“I didn't even know it was dislocated when it happened,” Olynyk said. “He kind of started running away and his arm was facing the other way to me. I didn't even know. Obviously, I knew something was wrong when he ran off the floor. I didn't know. I couldn't feel it come out.”
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“I don't think I could dislocate someone's arm if I tried,” Olynyk said. “I think it's a real tough thing to do. Like I said before, it's kind of ridiculous to say you intentionally meant to. I'd never intentionally hurt someone, him or anybody else for that matter. I don't think anybody goes out trying to hurt anyone. I think it's just real unfortunate.
“If you get tangled up and he doesn't dislocate his shoulder, there's nothing dirty ever said or anything. It's just a foul. So I just really hope he can get back as soon as possible and help that team keep making a push.”
Love has been ruled out for the Cavaliers' second-round series, which is obviously horrible news for him and his team. Olynyk, who said he's received threats on social media because of this, claimed that he was trying to stay tangled up with Love so Boston guard Avery Bradley could get the ball.
It's hard to judge intent based on the video, but I'm inclined to believe Olynyk. This sort of stuff happens all the time when battling for rebounds -- it just usually doesn't result in an injury to a star player. Olynyk did a dangerous thing by holding onto Love's arm, but it was actually Love who initiated the contact and got them tied up. While it wasn't exactly a freak accident, it doesn't seem like a case of goonery, either.
