On Sunday, Detroit Pistons veteran big man Zaza Pachulia celebrated his 35th birthday. Naturally, he was swarmed by greetings on social media by fans and peers alike. However, one of the standout greetings came from none other than his Pistons teammate, Blake Griffin.
Griffin hilariously shared a photo on his Instagram stories of himself in a very up close and personal encounter with the birthday boy. Unfortunately for Pachulia, it isn't exactly a memorable moment that he is likely to cherish for the rest of his career:
This epic photo was snapped years ago, prior to Griffin's move to Detroit. This was a time when these two were still fierce competitors on the court, and based on the picture, Pachulia appears to have gotten much more than he bargained for on this particular defensive play.
Pachulia signed with the Pistons last summer as an unrestricted free agent after bagging two straight NBA titles with the Golden State Warriors. The 6-foot-11 big man is currently on a one-year, veteran's minimum deal, which means that he will once again enter free agency in the summer.
There is no word yet on whether or not the Pistons intend to offer Pachulia a new deal in the offseason, but with the Georgian averaging only 4.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.7 steals in 14.8 minutes per game off the bench, it would not be surprising if the team ends up parting ways with him.
Then again, Pachulia's contributions extend far beyond the box score, so perhaps the Pistons' front office might just have some extra motivation to keep him beyond this season.
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