When Robert Sacre Stayed In for the Lakers After Fouling Out
When former Canadian international Robert Sacre went over the foul limit playing for the Los Angeles Lakers on February 5th, 2014, he stayed in the game.
Normally a player in his situation would be heading to the bench, but that night events conspired to allow him to keep his spot on the floor as well as enact what would become an extraordinary but little-known microcosm of NBA history.
Sacre was able to remain in play for two reasons: that his team were so depleted there was no one who could take his place, bringing an obscure NBA rule that a team must have five active players into effect.
By February 5th in the 2013-14 NBA season, the Lakers were on a seven-game losing skid and had only eight players ready to suit up for the night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Regular starters Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Jodie Meeks were all ruled out injured, as were substitutes Jordan Hill and Xavier Henry, while Steve Nash was resting. As a result, Robert Sacre was promoted to starter for the game, along with Ryan Kelly, Steve Blake and Jordan Farmar. This newly-assembled starting five would be backed up by Chris Kaman, Kendall Marshall and Nick Young on the bench.
The Cavaliers, while their record wasn't much better than LA's, they seemed in much better shape: led by then-star Kyrie Irving, coming off his second all-star selection, and just two rotation players were inactive. Also on their home court, they seemed the smart and safe bet.
Knowing all of this, it would have come as something a surprise to see the Lakers outscoring Cleveland 36-17 in the first quarter, with Wesley Johnson, Farmar and Kelly going all-out from close range early on. Things seemed good for the depleted Los Angeles unit.
It was just before the end of the half when the Lakers' situation started to become more dicey: Nick Young twisted his ankle and had to leave the game. Later, in the fourth quarter, Chris Kaman went over the foul limit and was ejected while Farmar, hobbling on a sore calf, finally couldn't take anymore and had to exit.
The five on the floor for the Lakers now had no option but to make it to the end of the game by themselves. That was when the biggest twist of the night came: with 3:32 to go, referee Jason Phillips called Sacre for his sixth foul. Confusion followed as to what this meant for the game, ultimately Sacre was saved the by NBA rule book.
Rule 3.1A makes it so that an NBA team can not be reduced to less than five players, and should all but the five on floor be disqualified from playing and an active player receives a sixth foul, they are allowed to remain in the game. This and any further fouls from that player will see them receive another personal and team foul.
As there was no one left who could take Sacre's place, he was allowed to stay in the game on six fouls, and instead a team foul was given against the Lakers and the Cavaliers were awarded a free-throw.
There was much commotion on both sides, on the court and presumably in the crowd and for people watching on TV. Seeing such a rare occurrence no one really knew how to react, including Sacre himself and Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni, who admitted after the fact he had no knowledge of this rule before it had come into effect for his player.
What was most extraordinary about all of this was that the Lakers, with just five players and in the most unusual bonus penalty situation, managed to win the game. Despite a late push from C.J. Miles for the Cavs, they came up short against the five-man Lakers, who came away with the win 119-108.
This would end up being a rare win for Los Angeles in the season, they ended up finishing 27 for 55, which was the franchise's first losing record since 2005. While the result was unmemorable, the events of the game turned a regular season fixture of no real consequence between two struggling teams into a matter of interest still being talked about years after the fact.
The following summer Sacre won a bronze medal with the Canadian national team at the FIBA Americas Championship. He played a further season with the Lakers before moving on to Japan and two years with the Sun Rockers Shibuya. He retired in 2019, among other distinctions, being in a very rare band of NBA players who fouled out but was allowed to keep playing.
Picture: Mark Duncan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpHIkSNlGEQ
