Australian Boomers star Matthew Dellavedova has again been accused of being a dirty player after he was ejected from an NBA match for the first time.
The no-frills Milwaukee Bucks guard was assessed with a flagrant 2 foul after stopping the Washington Wizards' Bradley Beal with what resembled a high rugby tackle.
The incident in the last quarter of a 110-103 away win incensed the Wizards who quickly surrounded Dellavedova as Beal also jumped up to remonstrate.
"There's a difference between making a play on the ball and wrapping your arms around somebody's neck," Beal said later. "I mean, it is what it is."
As Beal drove the lane in transition, Dellavedova, with little time to react in defence, reached out his arms. The right one caught Beal around the shoulders and neck and brought him to the ground.
"I was just trying to hold him to prevent him from, you know, getting the and-one, and then he just went to the ground," said Dellavedova.
Wizards star John Wall said his impressions of Dellavedova didn't quite match the record of four flagrant fouls in five NBA seasons.
"Whatever their team can say and other people can vouch for him, to me, I always thought he was a dirty player," Wall said.
Dellavedova has previously upset rival NBA players with his hard-nosed, ultra-competitive approach to the game.
In 2016 a Los Angeles Times writer said he had polled some NBA coaches, assistants and players - 24 of them - and Dellavedova received most votes (13) as dirtiest player ahead of Oklahoma's New Zealand centre Steven Adams.
He mentioned a couple of incidents including Atlanta's Kyle Korver needing ankle surgery following a collision with Delly, who was desperately diving for a loose ball while playing for Cleveland in the 2014-15 playoffs.
However, Dellavedova was backed by an assistant coach in the same story.
"He ain't dirty. He just plays hard," said the assistant coach. "See, guys resent people that play hard because they don't want to play hard. So if a guy plays hard, he's dirty. He's not dirty. He just plays hard."
Beal could also face some discipline from the NBA for his actions in the brief scrum that followed Dellavedova's foul on Saturday.
Replays showed Beal's hand had made contact with referee Kevin Scott's shoulder and neck area as he stepped at Dellavedova.
"The one thing I didn't like is the ref going after me versus trying to control him," Beal said. "I have a right to react the way I did."
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