The saga involving the intent behind Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia's awkward fall over Russell Westbrook has brought many sides to the argument since the highly-anticipated Saturday night matchup concluded.
Unsurprisingly, Steven Adams; who has taken a kick to the groin as graciously as a 6-foot-11 big man can, said no on-court retaliation would be needed from his team.
The Kiwi center was asked if his Oklahoma City Thunder would feel the need to retaliate in the same way a starting pitcher would be tasked with pelting an opposing batter for a prior transgression of a brushback pitch or an intentional hit-by-pitch in a game.
“Not at all,” Adams told reporters. “Anything like that that gets personal like that, it should be done outside of (the court). Reason for that is when you involve the rest of your teammates, you put your teammates at risk. It's just one of those things.”
Steven Adams doesn’t agree there needs to be on-court retaliation for Zaza Pachulia: “Not at all…anything like that that gets personal like that, it should be done outside” pic.twitter.com/PRSOT8rSMy
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) February 26, 2018
The Thunder and the Warriors have had plenty of high-pressure outings, with OKC getting the better end of the defending champions in two of the last three games.
A kick to Adams' groin by Draymond Green in a playoffs situation, as well as many on-court skirmishes between the two sides has had this rivalry with tempers flaring during the past few years.
An emphasis comes along with Pachulia's history of reckless challenges, and even in situations where the ball-handler isn't involved, his integrity for the game has come in question.
Westbrook, if anyone, has been known to hold grudges with players before, and there is no telling whether he will choose to take matters into his own hands when these two teams meet one last time on Apr. 3 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
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