Among the NBA personalities offended by Zaza Pachulia falling over Russell Westbrook during the Golden State Warriors' 112-80 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder was former Warriors forward and NBA pundit Stephen Jackson, who denounced the big man for his action.
A guest in the set of Undisputed in Fox Sports 1, Jackson emphasized his dislike for the play after the likes of Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, and Westbrook's teammate Paul George blamed Pachulia and called him a dirty player.
Via Andrew Joseph of USA TODAY Sports' For The Win
“He dirty. He's lucky he's in the league at the right time,” said Jackson. “He would have gotten knocked out four or five times for the stuff he's done… He definitely would've gotten taken out. I remember with Pop used to put me in games to go take hard fouls on certain guys. I would've taken more than a foul on him that game. I wish I was on OKC the other night because I definitely would have slapped him.”
Jackson must have forgotten that he was in his fourth year in the league when Pachulia was drafted (2003) and that the two played 11 years together, meeting a total of 19 games.
No one got slapped.
Jackson's bravery comes at a time when he is wearing a suit and a microphone. Many would have liked to see the 6-foot-8, 220-pound walking mouth take on the 6-foot-11, 270-pound mammoth that Pachulia is on the court.
It's easy to talk the talk when you're not forced to walk the walk; but for Jackson, this is just another check his mouth won't cash, right Pop?
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