Were you watching Game 1 between the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors on Saturday and wondering where the heck Andrei Kirilenko was? I sure did. And so did his wife.
AK47 averaged 19 minutes per game during the regular season and played at least 24 minutes in each of the team’s final five regular season games, but Nets coach Jason Kidd decided to keep him on the bench during Game 1 in Toronto.
Kirilenko, along with Jason Collins and Jorge Gutierrez, received DNP – coach’s decisions for the game.
Safe to say that Kirilenko’s wife, Masha Lopatova, was not thrilled to see her husband planted on the bench all game. She shared the photo seen above on her Instagram account along with the caption:
“And you are Kidding like Jason…..”
That “kidding like Jason” is a line from a Nelly song. Masha wrote a comment to someone on Instagram saying it hurt not seeing her husband in there.
“I don’t want to say anything bad but just think about 350 million Russian fans back in Russia cheering for the one Russian player in the playoffs ( not to mention Russian community and Russian ownership ) that hurts!!!”
She did maintain some perspective, writing to another fan that “W – is all that matters!”
Well that’s good. At least she’s still a team-first wife. And who can’t understand her disappointment?
According to the NY Post, this is what Kidd had to say about AK47’s absence.
“Ten other guys played,” Kidd said. “I can’t play ’em all. He’s healthy.”
Maybe we’ll see AK in there for Game 2. If not, Masha will probably have some words for Mikhail.
Tip via David B.
