Zaza Pachulia and Russell Westbrook have something of a history. The two were involved in a little incident a couple of years ago when Pachulia committed a hard foul on Westbrook during a game in January of 2017.
Pachulia, who was playing for the Golden State Warriors, was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul. After the game, Westbrook said that Pachulia was a dirty player and that, “I’m gonna get his ass back.”
Just a little over a year later, in February of 2018, Pachulia fell on Westbrook during a play in the third quarter. That drew the ire of Westbrook and other players on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
That brings us to this week, where Westbrook finally got his opportunity to get Pachulia back with a hard foul of his own. As the Thunder took on the Detroit Pistons, Westbrook whacked Pachulia over the head as the big man went up for a putback.
Via Twitter:
Russell Westbrook got a Flagrant 1 for this hard foul on Zaza Pachulia. pic.twitter.com/cPcR2xwHV7
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 6, 2019
Westbrook was given a Flagrant 1 on the play, and the internet was pleased with itself for the eventual payback.
Pachulia has often been condemned as dirty and unnecessary. Aside from his interactions with Westbrook, Pachulia also slid under Kawhi Leonard in a playoff game in 2017, injuring him and perhaps changing the tide of the series.
However you feel about Pachulia, there’s still bad blood between these two guys and it’ll be interesting to see what happens the next time they meet up.