Jusuf Nurkic went to work on Jonas Valanciunas after reports that Kings forward Metu had suffered a wrist injury because of him.
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Things got heated during Kings vs Grizzlies two nights back. The two Western Conference teams faced off with young point guards Ja Morant and De’Aaron Fox taking center stage.
The Grizzlies bested the Kings quite comfortably, 124-110, but did so with a couple of hiccups along the way. With about 3:20 left in the 4th quarter, Kings forward Chimezie Metu drove down the lane hammered one home over Memphis big man Jonas Valanciunas.
However, instead of coming down immediately, Metu hung on the rim and sat on Jonas’s shoulders for a couple seconds. Valanciunas took this as an obvious sign of disrespect and slammed the young Kings player to the ground.
The Kings later revealed that Metu had fractured his wrist due to Jonas Valanciunas’s actions.
Chimezie Metu dunks on Jonas Valanciunas then tries to ride on his shoulders. Jonas takes exception & gets a tech.
A minute later, Jonas dunks by Metu & puts his legs on Cory Joseph’s shoulders. pic.twitter.com/RKY2HVKcZN
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 15, 2021
Jusuf Nurkic reacts to Jonas Valanciunas and Chimezie Metu situation
The aggressive reaction from Jonas warranted many on social media to put forth their opinion on if his actions were justified. Some say Metu deserved what he got because he was blatantly disrespecting Valanciunas by sitting on shoulders following the dunk. Others claim it was unnecessary and Jonas should’ve walked away from it.
Whatever, Metu did not deserve to have his hand broken in the process. Portland TrailBlazers star Jusuf Nurkic, who is also on the med as of right now, disapproved of the former Raptor’s actions.
“Come on Jonas, bro, we can do better than this. Metu, he’s a baller.” Jusuf Nurkic has always had a certain temperament to him when on the court. So, given the situation, Nurk might’ve acted similar to the way Jonas did.
Kings head coach Luke Walton also came out in disapproval of the play saying, “That was a dangerous play. He hooked him by the leg and tried to throw him down, so I didn’t understand how that, in today’s NBA, is not considered a flagrant foul.”