Zaza Pachulia is officially OKC’s biggest enemy

Another dirty move by Zaza Pachulia combined with Russ and KD’s reconciliation gives OKC Thunder fans a new target.

“Childish.” That’s how Zaza Pachulia described Russell Westbrook for believing the Warriors center actively tried to hurt him in last night’s game. Before I get too deep into my rant, I need to clarify a few things:

1. Childish is a word that gets thrown around far too often in today’s society. I use it, my friends use it, and now apparently NBA players use it.
2. Childish is a word that’s connotation is powerful. You don’t call somebody childish unless they did something outrageous.
3. Childish is not a word Zaza should even consider calling Russell Westbrook. Especially after the bs move he tried to pull last night.

I’m not here to explain to you why Zaza’s fall is dirty. All you need is a working eye and the ability to look past your biases to know Zaza intentionally lunged at Russ’ knees. Instead we’re going to rally around the idea that OKC Thunder fans (and NBA fans in general) now have a new Public Enemy #1.

This is now the second time Zaza Pachulia has attempted to purposefully hurt Russell Westbrook. It’s an alarming trend, especially considering these two teams have a chance of meeting in this year’s Playoffs. What’s truly terrifying is the fact Zaza has made similar attempts to other stars his entire career.

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• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

The NBA can’t continue to tolerate these actions. The premiere team – a squad filled with All-Stars – has a player that is actively attempting to lessen an already imbalanced playing field. Oklahoma City and Golden State has the potential to become a classic rivalry for the League, yet a seven-footer averaging 5.8 points per game may stop that from happening.

What Kevin Durant did sucked – that feeling of betrayal will probably never go away. But what Zaza is now doing is much worse. Russell Westbrook and the Thunder aren’t a threat to the Warriors this season. Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs weren’t really a threat last Playoffs either. These attempts at making their path easier by hurting star players is downright

disgusting

childish.

I don’t expect the Warriors to publicly make a statement regarding Zaza. I’d hope they would, however, address this problem in-house. It’s not a good look for arguably the most talented team in NBA history to resort to these actions. If it continues they will only become more disliked – that’s not what a team that plays the game so beautifully should strive for.

Hopefully last night was the final straw. Because if not, a serious injury to a superstar will occur because nobody stopped a relatively irrelevant player.

Figure it out Mr. Silver. Something has to be done.