In a dark turn of events for the Kings, big man Chimezie Metu has a broken right wrist, the team confirmed Tuesday evening. The injury is believed to have occurred when he was pulled off the rim by Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas in Sunday's loss.
He will be re-evaluated in four weeks.
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Metu underwent X-rays on Monday night following the Kings' loss to the Brooklyn Nets. He is scheduled to see a specialist for the injury, and there is no timetable for his return yet.
General manager Monte McNair reached out to the league about the incident, but there is no update as to whether the NBA will take further action against Valanciunas for what the Kings believed was a dangerous play.
“Yes, that was a dangerous play,” coach Luke Walton said Sunday in a postgame video conference. “He hooked him by the leg and tried to throw him down. So I didn’t understand how that is not, in what today’s NBA is, is not even considered a flagrant foul. I don’t see how that’s a basketball play.”
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NBA
The officials on the court reviewed the initial incident and deemed the act an unsportsmanlike technical foul on Valanciunas, which is for taunting. Valanciunas clearly hooked Metu's leg, turned his body and puled the Kings center off the rim, which should have been a flagrant two by league rules.
"If contact committed against a player, with or without the ball, is interpreted to be unnecessary and excessive, a flagrant foul -- penalty (2) will be assessed."
The league has the right to review the incident and impose further penalty, especially if the play was unsafe and not considered a basketball move.
Metu is in his first season with the Kings after signing a two-way contract. In 11 games with Sacramento, he's averaging 3.4 points and 2.1 rebounds.