Washington Huskies: Malik Dime Suspension Easy Call to Make
By Paul Taylor
Washington Huskies make the right call with Malik Dime, but decision to suspend him has no real ramifications.
Malik Dime already knew some form of punishment was coming, after his physical altercation with a couple of hecklers on Thursday night, in Colorado. As reported by Art Thiel of SportpressNW, the Washington Huskies have suspended the forward indefinitely.
Speaking to Thiel and the rest of the media, Huskies’ coach Lorenzo Romar said: “Malik’s actions were inconsistent with his typical behavior. They were absolutely unacceptable, and did not represent the values of our team and the sportsmanship spirit of our conference.
“We have spoken with him at length and expect this to be a valuable teaching moment. We do not expect this type of behavior to happen again.”
Perhaps best highlighting the frustrations of this season, the incident happened during halftime of the Huskies’ loss to the Buffaloes. Dime walked up to a student heckler and slapped him in the face, also catching the fan next to him.
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As reported by BSN Denver, the Senegal native made amends with the fans after the game, who said they wouldn’t be pressing charges. Regardless, the damage was done, with the NCAA having strict regulations regarding these types of scenarios.
For his part, Dime sounded remorseful over the incident: “I was very caught up in the emotion of the game, and allowed my frustrations to influence my behavior. I made a very poor decision, and did not represent my team, my University and my family the way I want to.”
There is no denying the Huskies made the right call in suspending the senior (no matter how annoying it is that fans continually act like this at sporting events). And yet, the reality is there are no real ramifications for the team.
Consider that Dime has missed the last nine games due to a broken finger, which was expected to keep him out of Saturday’s match-up with Utah. After this, there are only five games remaining in what is already pretty much a lost season.
Regardless, Dime’s absence has already contributed to the Huskies’ disappointing season, with the team going 1-8 without him. At the time of his injury, he was second in the Pac-12 in blocks and third on the team in rebounds.
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Do you agree with Dime’s suspension, or do you believe it is too severe? As for Dime himself, what are your main takeaways from his tenure with the Huskies? Share your thoughts in the comments section.