By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
With three minutes to play in the third quarter of their team’s loss to the Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers center Goga Bitadze and assistant coach Greg Foster got into a heated exchange of words that could’ve gotten ugly.
Bitadze scored a 3-pointer following a poor defensive reaction and then turned to the Pacers‘ bench, appearing to be saying “Sit the f–k down” to Foster. This made Foster quite furious and began shouting at Bitadze and trying to approach the Georgian big man with several Pacers players and personnel holding him back.
Breakdown of the Bitadze-coach Foster incident late 3Q. It's his first game back in 16 days from an ankle sprain.
– Bitadze late to slide over after Harkless blows past Domas
– Hits a 3 at the other end, says "sit the fuck down" to Foster
– Foster then held back during timeout. pic.twitter.com/aTa7zGwXWx— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) May 6, 2021
“I’ve talked to both of them about it, absolutely, and I’m going to talk to them more about it right after this,” Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren said after the game. “I’m going to find out exactly what was said and in what way, and go from there … Again, they’re both trying so hard. They’re both competitive. They both want what’s best for the team. It just didn’t happen that way. With the frustration part of it, it boiled over there a little bit.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski had reported that Bjorkgren has been in the hot seat due to issues in his relationship with players and coaches.