Two of the NBA’s biggest memes got into it on Wednesday night.
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul and Los Angeles Lakers counterpart D’Angelo Russell had an incident in the second quarter of their game against each other. As he was trying to create room after receiving an inbounds pass, Paul gave Russell a slight shoulder to the chest. Russell then responded with a hard forearm to Paul’s back after he had dribbled into the frontcourt.
The two then started chirping at one another and had to be separated (with Paul seemingly calling the move by Russell “b—h s–t”). Here is the video.
Chris Paul & D'Angelo Russell.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 28, 2024
That whole sequence appeared to be initiated by Paul, who is notorious for using small physical (and sometimes dirty) moves to irritate opponents and try to bait them into fouls. It worked there with Russell too, and Paul ended up with two free throws (because the Spurs were in the bonus at the time).
Paul is 39 years old now and in his 20th NBA season, but he is still up to his same old tricks. He picked an interesting opponent to pull it on with Russell though since both of them have reputations for being snitches.
