Arguably the rivalry between the OKC Thunder and Golden State Warriors is the most contentious in the NBA. Following round three of the season series however, it is Zaza Pachulia who occupies the focus In the news.
As the OKC Thunder took a 2-0 season series lead into Oracle everyone expected the Warriors to win. In hindsight, it’s how the Warriors won which is still resonating two days later. As always, contests between these squads serves up a fair share of contentious highs filled with physicality and emotional charged moments.
In round three it was clear the mandate of Steve Kerr was for the Warriors to be much more aggressive. There were moments in this game where the Warriors seemingly presented a far different identity. Although Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson didn’t deviate from their typical style the remainder of the Warriors who took to the court seemed intent on instigating anger or riling the Thunder.
Re-watching game film there was a minimum of one play made by every Warrior except the splash brothers which seemed directed in this regard. Carmelo Anthony was the main target given he was the lone star scoring early. Yet, it was the low level classless non basketball related action of Zaza Pachulia which is still dominating conversation. Or Zaza-Gate if you will.
Zaza-Gate:
Specifically, Zaza Pachulia purposely seized an opportunity to fall on top of Russell Westbrook hitting his knee with what can only be described as a willful intent to injure the superstar.
Thunderous Intentions devoted ample time to this specific subject yesterday. My cohort, Tony Heim offered an opinion piece accurately calling Zaza Pachulia public enemy number one.
Fans blew up social media about the incident and it continued to occupy space throughout the weekend.
Steve Kerr calls Pachulia’s actions “basketball move”
Normally I would side with Steve Kerr for backing up his player. But, I can’t respect him condoning what Pachulia did (or tired to do) to Westbrook.
Reiterating a point I made Sunday’s in the news, if other goons were trying to hurt Kevin Durant or Steph Curry I doubt Steve Kerr would be calling those players the moral compass of their squads.
Pundits weigh in:
Post game several pundits and analysts weighed in with their perspectives on Pachulia’s actions. For those who didn’t see the play – here it is again for your observation.
Pay particular attention to the slow motion section. during that you can see a light bulb go on over Pachulia’s head – as if to say “oh look it’s Russ on the ground – let me fall on top of him”.
ESPN Michael Wilbon:
Wilbon relays the messages received from Marc J. Spears post game and weighs in with his own thoughts. Specifically, Wilbon says at the time I remember thinking “what was that?”
Game Time Crew:
The NBA Game Time panel of Rick Kamla, ‘the Czar’ Mike Fratello and Brendan Haywood discussed the incident. Hayward in particular took umbrage with the unnecessary nature of the action and cited the history of the dirty play by by Zaza.
At one point Haywood thought Fratello was condoning it, but that wasn’t the case. Fratello compared Pachulia to players of the mid 80s who felt their job was to hurt opposing team’s stars. In essence Fratello found a way to call out Pachulia for purposely trying to hurt Westbrook without specifically using those words.
Suffice to say this situation enraged Westbrook
Paul George states the obvious:
Russell Westbrook was heated about the Zaza Pachulia play. Will post that, but here’s Paul George on it. pic.twitter.com/U0wBFVnZP2
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) February 25, 2018
Kyrie Irving:
All-Star teammate Kyrie Irving took to social media to make his thoughts known. (warning – harsh language used)
Kyrie Irving has thoughts on Pachulia falling on Westbrook’s leg: “that s*** is ridiculous” pic.twitter.com/fPJayhbzT4
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) February 25, 2018
Damian Lillard:
BS play smh https://t.co/AqmCjfemWQ
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) February 25, 2018
One player we wish would comment:
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 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
Obviously getting Kawhi Leonard to talk is a challenge. Expecting him to take to social media over another player or speak publicly would be akin to winning the lottery. But, I sure would love to hear the Spurs superstars thoughts on Zaza Pachulia.
Inaction equals an open can of worms:
The bottom line is there is a history of Pachulia committing dirty plays. Furthermore, there is evidence the opponents he targets tend to be the opposing teams stars.
Since there is also a history of Pachulia pulling stunts like this on Westbrook, it would seem likely the OKC Thunder will send this in to the League with a request for action.
Again, the Warriors need to be careful in their support of Pachulia because if they defend him too aggressively then if something happens to one of the Warriors they won’t have a leg to stand on (no pun intended).
Ultimately, inaction by the league sends a message this type of action is okay and opens the door for other mid to low level players (with nothing to lose) targeting other team’s stars.
Let’s hope Adam Silver and the braintrust recognize the potential for problems exist and they take swift and appropriate action. If they don’t, it sends the message the Association isn’t willing to protect their stars.
That wraps up OKC Thunder in the news for Monday, February 26. Enjoy your week.