NBA players are notorious for "hold-me-back"-type scuffles, opting to talk that talk and get ejected rather than walk the walk. This led to one of the best NBA on TNT moments in history last season when Shaq and Chuck laughed their asses off at at the Clippers and Rockets needing a "po-lice presence" at the Staples Center during the post game for a non-existent "fight." Yes, there are outliers like the Malice at the Palace and that time Carmelo Anthony sucker-punched Mardy Collins at the Garden. For the most part though, scuffles rarely escalate.
Tuesday night in Phoenix was the latest example of an NBA scuffle going absolutely nowhere, when Minnesota Timberwolves center Gorgui Dieng and Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker had words after Booker took an elbow to the face from Dieng. Whatever Dieng said after clearly irked Booker, and the two got in each other's face. Here's the whole ordeal, including both players getting ejected and sent into the tunnel:
As you can see at the 47 second mark, Dieng, who checks in at just under seven feet tall and over 250 pounds, tells Booker, who stands at a respectable 6-foot-6 and weighs around 210, to meet him in the tunnel. That produced one of the most hilarious hold-me-back moments you'll see all season:
Looks like a dad trying to hold his wilding child back from running around in church or something. Booker clearly wasn't going to back down, though Dieng implored the media afterwards that they weren't meeting to throw hands. They were just going take part in the tradition that's sweeping the sports world:
Jersey-swapping, so hot right now. Jersey-swapping.
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