Golden State Warriors big man Zaza Pachulia has garnered the reputation of being a dirty player. He has been involved in a few controversial plays before that resulted to players getting hurt, perhaps none more infamous than that of when he “inadvertently” slid his foot underneath San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard in last year’s Western Conference Finals series.
On Saturday night, Pachulia almost added another victim to his list — another high-profile player to be precise, as he came crashing down on a fallen Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder during one play in the game. Whether it was accidental or deliberate on the part of Pachulia, some people would look at it negatively. And among those folks is Boston Celtics point guard and Westbrook’s All-Star Game teammate, Kyrie Irving.
Irving had a strong reaction to what Pachulia just did to Westbrook, as he used profanity to depict his disbelief of the way Pachulia is being allowed to continue with the way he is playing in the league.
Here’s Kyrie Irving’s reaction to an Instagram post by ballgod via Warriors on NBCS.
Kyrie’s got a strong statement on Zaza landing on Russ’ legs pic.twitter.com/wpw9RVWgKG
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 25, 2018
To some extent, having Zaza Pachulia on the floor is the equivalent of running with scissors for opposing teams because that’s how dangerous some of his actions are to others. Pachulia is a physical player, but there is a fine line between being physical and being a dirty player.
The NBA has seen plenty of players get taken out by injuries this season, and the last thing the league wants is to see more hurt bodies. Pachulia, however, appears to be a walking work hazard who does not seem to be changing his ways anytime soon.
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