Kyrie Irving on Zaza Pachulia's 'Dirty' Play: 'That's Unacceptable in This Game'
Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving spoke out Wednesday against Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, who landed on Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook's legs during Golden State's 112-80 win on Saturday.
According to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, Irving called the play "dirty" and expressed his belief that something needs to be done about Pachulia and his history of questionable plays: "What do you actually feel about it? Because as a player, we've seen it happen before for years and years with him doing [expletive] like that. I don't want the league to just suspend him for 10 games, but you've got to take a look at it or something. That's unacceptable in this game."
Pachulia did not receive any discipline from the NBA for the play involving Westbrook.
On Saturday night, Irving commented on a photo of the play on Instagram, per Yahoo Sports NBA (Warning: Some language NSFW):
Irving explained why he decided to speak his mind and expressed his belief that the fact Westbrook escaped injury played a role in the lack of uproar surrounding the play:
"We all saw what was going on. Whether people want to admit it or not, that’s on them. But for me, I voiced my opinion. It's not me going against the league. I felt that play was just unnecessary. It was totally unnecessary.
"But since Russ didn't get hurt, then it's like 'OK then the play was clean.' I'm always thinking about the what if's and you never know what could happen in situations like that. He falls arm first, knee first into [Westbrook]. Whatever man. I don't really comment on anything on social media [but this one I had to]."
Per ESPN.com's Royce Young, Westbrook was among those who felt Pachulia purposely dove on top of him: "Obviously, it was intentional. So don't ask me if it was intentional. Nobody touched him, he fell on my leg, tried to hurt me. But hey, that's how it goes."
Pachulia has a track record of questionable plays. The most prominent one occurred during Game 1 of last season's Western Conference Finals, when San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard suffered an injury after landing on Pachulia's foot after releasing a shot.
The Celtics don't have another regular-season meeting with the Warriors on the schedule, but Irving may have an opportunity to give Pachulia a piece of his mind in person if both teams advance to the NBA Finals.
