The NBA wrote: "While some of the plays in the video involved hard contact, none was subsequently deemed a Flagrant Foul given the full circumstances, angles and comparables from past games." official.nba.com/nba-response-new-york-times-story-jeremy-lin/ I'm not sure if the NBA reviewed their own Video Rulebook examples: videorulebook.nba.com/archive/flagrant-foul-penalty-2-excessive-swing-and-contact-to-opponents-head-2/ videorulebook.nba.com/archive/flagrant-foul-penalty-1-one-arm-swing-contact-to-head/ videorulebook.nba.com/archive/flagrant-foul-penalty-1-contact-to-the-head/