Zaza Pachulia dismissed claims made by the Oklahoma City Thunder after Saturday night’s game of him being a dirty player as “childish.”
Pachulia was seen diving on top of Thunder star guard Russell Westbrook late in the third quarter. Pachulia’s dive on top of Westbrook appeared to be completely unnecessary.
Zaza doesn’t belong in this league… he doesn’t need to fall here and he certainly doesn’t have to dive at russ legs pic.twitter.com/WAorx4NFbz
— Kermit (@HeyItsKermit_) February 25, 2018
After the game, Westbrook said he thought it was intentional.
Russell Westbrook on Zaza Pachulia falling on him, and asked if he’s a dirty player: “Yeah. For sure.” pic.twitter.com/w9ZH0AwVP1
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) February 25, 2018
“Obviously it was intentional. Nobody touch me, he fell over my leg, tried to hurt me … that’s how it go,” Westbrook said of the play.
Asked if he thought Pachulia was a dirty player, Westbrook said, “Yeah, for sure.”
Westbrook’s Thunder teammate, Paul George, agreed that Pachulia fell on Westbrook intentionally.
Paul George on Pachulia falling into Westbrook: "You know Zaza. You know his history. You know nobody pushed him. He aimed where he was gonna fall. That’s Zaza making a Zaza play. He’s on the end of hurting a lot of guys."
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) February 25, 2018
Pachulia was confronted with the claims made by Thunder players that he is dirty. He dismissed it all as “childish” and said he wouldn’t respond.
Zaza Pachulia on Russell Westbrook’s claim that he intentionally tried to hurt him: “No comment. That’s childish. Come on. I’m not responding to that.”
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 25, 2018
Pachulia doesn’t want to respond because he knows it’s true.
His list of offenses is long.
– He took a groin swipe at Iman Shumpert in the NBA Finals
– He stepped under Kawhi Leonard in the Western Conference finals and injured him
– He smacked Luke Babbitt in the face
– He also has a history with Westbrook
Here is all the evidence you need to see to know about Pachulia:
A thread of Zaza Pachulia playing dirty and attempting to injure opposing teams players: pic.twitter.com/wYL49D9n6I
— mf DOOM in CAPS (@GAMEWINING3) February 25, 2018
Zaza tries to dislocate/break Kawhis arm pic.twitter.com/L2U2BEdLjX
— mf DOOM in CAPS (@GAMEWINING3) February 25, 2018
Zaza literally trying to kick Danny Green in the face: pic.twitter.com/a39t1oTOM8
— mf DOOM in CAPS (@GAMEWINING3) February 25, 2018
Down 20 at home in the WCF, Zaza takes an extra step and Kawhi is out for the rest of the series pic.twitter.com/JrvsZTlQdS
— mf DOOM in CAPS (@GAMEWINING3) February 25, 2018
