Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Heat react strongly to claims they put 'code red' on Jayson Tatum

By Sai Mohan | Last updated 4/24/24

Celtics fans held their collective breath when Jayson Tatum took a hard thud to the floor during Sunday's Game 1 win against the Heat. The incident occurred when Caleb Martin collided with Tatum while fighting for a rebound, causing the Celtics star to fly midair before landing on his back.

During the post-game show, Celtics announcer Brian Scalabrine suggested that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra might have ordered a "code red" — to intentionally injure Tatum — in the preceding timeout.

"I'm not trying to start nothing here, but Erik Spoelstra calls a timeout with 1:30, down by 16...and 30 seconds later, that play happens," Scalabrine said. "Why is he calling a timeout at 1:30 and why is that play happening 30 seconds later? That looked shady to me."

The next morning, Scalabrine stood by his "code red" accusation.

“I’m not saying that he said go run over Tatum and hurt him, I think he said to send a message…If you think that was not said, then I don’t think you guys buy in to Heat Culture…”

- Brian Scalabrine (@Scalabrine) stands on his “code red” remarks from Heat vs Celtics.

… pic.twitter.com/lFiJxJI05Q
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) April 22, 2024

Scalabrine's wild theory caused quite a stir in the media. Spoelstra and Martin responded to the claims after Miami's practice session on Tuesday.

Spoelstra said the accusation was "not worth addressing" before he credited Miami and Boston for playing a quality brand of basketball over their recent years of playoff battles.

Erik Spoelstra at Heat shootaround addressing Caleb Martin’s controversial foul on Jayson Tatum in Game 1:

“This is good, clean, tough, physical basketball & it always has been between these two teams. It’s not going over the top… this what everyone wants” pic.twitter.com/CxzP4TD17B
— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) April 23, 2024

Martin had a rather interesting take, suggesting that if the roles were reversed, and he took the tumble, nobody would have accused Tatum of a dirty play.

Caleb Martin responds to accusations his foul on Tatum was intentional: "That's just not who I am."

"If the roles were switched, I don't think anybody would've called it a code red ... I clearly got pushed into him."

⚡️ @Prizepicks @PXG pic.twitter.com/RKiDL8HpmD
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) April 23, 2024

The Celtics and Heat are engaged in their third consecutive battle in the NBA Playoffs. While the Celtics emerged 4-3 in 2022 en route to the NBA Finals, the Heat returned the favor last year.

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