By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Partizan Belgrade coach Zeljko Obradovic addressed the fighting incident between his player James Nunnally and Crvena Zvezda’s Stefan Lazarevic, explaining his decision to not use the American forward in the decisive Game 3 of the ABA League Finals.
“My decision was for him not to play,” Obradovic following Partizan’s loss to Zvezda that resulted in a 0-3 sweep against his team, said per Mozzart. “After spending a few hours at the police and everything that happened, I thought he was not ready to play. I think that is the decision and I stand by that decision. There is no reason not to believe what James said. There are authorities that will deal with what happened. It is mentioned that there are some minutes missing from the video, but those are stories that I would not like to get into. Everyone has to answer for their actions.”
“As far as I know, Lazarević is an outstanding guy, “Obradovic added. “I’m sorry that what happened and that such a situation happened. I’m sorry for all that and for talking about such things before the final, for getting so much space, that talk about. A situation that I would never like to happen again, but everyone has to answer for their actions”.
Obradovic was shocked to learn of what occurred between Nunnally and Lazarevic. The latter also didn’t participate in the game from Zvezda’s side.
“I was, to say the least, surprised when they told me what happened,” Obradovic commented. “We had training at 10 o’clock and I asked my team manager when Zvezda has practice, and he told me at 11:30. That’s why I finished the training before 11, to possibly avoid any contact, to see each other… Of course, I didn’t think about the fact that what happened could happen. Then they told me in the office what happened. After that, such and such stories started… Who started it, how did it start… It’s a terribly ugly picture, and I don’t justify it. I don’t know if the Zvezda player started and what he did, nor what Nunnally did. I didn’t want to look at the sites, I was sick that such a situation even came to be.”
Nunnally was a significant absence for Partizan that didn’t manage to defend its title. Obradovic’s team was beaten twice on the road by Zvezda in the first two games and then was unable to respond with a win at their home court to ultimately suffer a sweeping finale in the ABA season.