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The player who elbowed Serbian power forward Boriša Simanić, during last Wednesday's FIBA World Cup game between South Sudan and Serbia has already opened up about the unfortunate incident that led to one of Simanić's kidneys getting removed.
“My apologies, I didn't mean to make no type of a dirty play. I hope you have a speedy recovery. I pray for you, you'll be in my prayers,” South Sudan's Nuni Omot said when he learned of what happened to Simanić, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN. “I'm not a dirty player, I've never been a dirty player. From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely apologize to everyone that's watching and to the player especially.”
During the play where Simanić suffered the freak injury, the Serbian was trying to stop Omot from scoring under the basket. In an attempt to make space between him and Simanić, Omot spun around, with his elbow catching the kidney area of Simanić, who grimaced in pain right after the blow.
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The game was already decided at that point, with just around two minutes remaining in regulation. Serbia won the game, 115-83 but their thoughts were understandably all about Simanić following the contest. Simanic was brought to the hospital and had his kidney removed on Sunday during a second operation.
Serbia will not have Simanic for the rest of the FIBA World Cup in Manila. After losing to Italy and beating Dominican Republic, the Serbians will head to the quarterfinals where they will play Lithuania on Wednesday.
