Nenad Krstic at the center of the Serbia-Greece brawl
Thunder center Nenad Krstic was at the center of a brutal brawl between Serbia and Greece at the Acropolis Tournament in Athens. Krstic didn’t appear to start it, but starts throwing punches at about the :40 mark.
This seems crazy because Krstic has never shown a mean bone in his body during his NBA career.
Will he play for Serbia in the FIBA World Championships? But, more importantly to Thunder fans, how does this affect his status with OKC? Is he likely to be reprimanded for this by the team or league, or can he be?
UPDATE: It’s been brought to my attention that the NBA has no enforcement power concerning international play, and vice versa. The NBA will not review this incident.
From The Associated Press:
ATHENS, Greece — The Acropolis basketball tournament finished in a brawl when the last game between Serbia and Greece was abandoned Thursday in the closing minutes after a fight broke out and the benches cleared.
The chaos stunned a crowd of about 5,000 at the Athens Olympic Arena, as players from the two teams exchanged punches and kicks. A few spectators entered the fray and were quickly shoved out of the arena. Greece was leading 74-73 when the match was abandoned.
Both teams qualified for the world championships in Turkey beginning Aug. 28.
The trouble began when Greek forward Antonis Fotsis had moved threateningly toward Serb guard Milos Teodosic after a hard foul, and Nenad Krstic appeared to grab Fotsis by the throat.
Krstic then threw a chair at Greek center Sofoklis Schortsanitis, who was pursuing him, and it hit Greek center Yannis Bouroussis in the head. Blood trickled from his wound.
The players exited toward the locker rooms and fought in the tunnel leading from the arena before eventually being separated. The fighting happened about six minutes after Serb coach Dusan Ivkovic was ejected with two technical fouls for arguing heatedly with a referee.
Earlier Thursday, veteran guard Jaka Lakovic scored 19 points to lead Slovenia (1-2) to its first victory, 86-71 over Canada. Guard Jevohn Shepherd was Canada’s top scorer with 13.
Slovenia’s lead topped 20 points several times, and the Canadians — surprise 62-58 winners over Serbia on Wednesday — could close within only 13 in the final period.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Are you kidding? This is exactly the kind of toughness OKC needs down low. Kristic stood up for a teammate. Sofo started it by hammering his teammate while he was on the floor, and Nenad finished it.
@Shawn
perhups you have to see the video again but more carefully…See the hand of TEODOSIC hitting Fotsis…
Yeah, and bashing the head of Bourousis, who tried to protect him from Big Sofo was a brave move… Nice Kristic, all world is proud of you
Krstic is such a pansy! The only punches he threw were to people who had their back turned towards him. When somebody finally turned to confront him, he backed away and threw a chair. The Thunder are gonna have a hard time winning with this wimp as their starter.
Kristic is an outwright coward who ran away when Sophocles went after him to give him a hardcore beating. 7 foot and he flees like a little girl. Plus he looks like an old fart at 35 years old, but is actually only 27!
Compared to today’s NBA hissy fits, this is a real fight complete with punches and chair-throwing. As long as they keep in on the court and out of the tunnels and the stands, I don’t have a problem with it.
Kristic has now been released from custody after the minister of Serbia’s sport went to Athens and pleaded for the release of their embarrassment. Kristic then proceeded to fly back to Belgrade.
this is sport, both teams got into it…it got a little overheated, but this happens, you play for your country you play tough and hard, someone disrespects you, in the balkans people dont like to back down..especially if your as big as any men here…backing down doesnt cut it, i know it sounds stupid and its a shame it was whilst playing for national teams but stuff happens, live and move on…everyone involved could then be charged for assault
“The NBA will not review this incident.”
This pretty much says all you need to know about the NBA. He’s the member of the NBA, he represents them 24/7. If he had gotten into a fight at a night club they’d be all over it.
The NBA does not have jurisdiction over anything that happens in FIBA competition – that’s why they can’t review it. FIBA will determine necessary actions and the NBA will definitely be watching him going forward.
[...] Jason Kersey of The Oklahoman: “Thunder center Nenad Krstic was at the center of a brutal brawl between Serbia and Greece at the Acropolis Tournament in Athens. Krstic didn’t appear to start it, but starts throwing punches at about the :40 mark. This seems crazy because Krstic has never shown a mean bone in his body during his NBA career. Will he play for Serbia in the FIBA World Championships? But, more importantly to Thunder fans, how does this affect his status with OKC? Is he likely to be reprimanded for this by the team or league, or can he be? UPDATE: It’s been brought to my attention that the NBA has no enforcement power concerning international play, and vice versa. The NBA will not review this incident.” [...]
Completing just as before exercise routines around day-to-day feet is actually quite balanced and likewise cases substantial medication inside easy and as well impending.
Krstic lost it because he saw Sofoklis kicking his team mate on the ground….mark :38