Santi Aldama moves on from viral shove on the bench

By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net

Without any apparent connection to the following head-coaching change at the Memphis Grizzlies, Desmond Bane shoved Santi Aldama during a timeout en route to a win against the Utah Jazz in Delta Center on Wednesday.

“Little disagreement,” the 24-year-old Spanish forward/center described the viral moment following a losing effort against the Los Angeles Lakers in FedExForum on the latest edition of NBA Saturdays, relays The Commercial Appeal.

“Definitely not a good look. Not going to sit here and act like it’s nothing, but we talked about it,” confessed Aldama, “It would be worse if we had a bunch of guys that just sat down, twiddled their thumbs, and just acted like they were just fine with the situation. We want to win. We’re competitive. We just said what we said and then moved on.”

“Two competitors,” added Bane, “We’re scratching and clawing against a Utah team on the road. We’re trying to push each other to be better. And that was pretty much that. I probably took it too far. I love Santi. He was at my wedding, I’ll be at his wedding. We talked right on the bench right after, hugged it out in the locker room and everything’s great.”

A few days after the incident, Taylor Jenkins was fired and replaced by Finnish Tuomas Iisalo. With an interim head coach in charge, the Grizzlies are looking into the bottom stretch of the 2024-25 NBA Regular Season, hoping to clinch a berth in the 2025 Playoffs presented by Google.

“Just got to find a way to win games now,” mentioned Aldama, “If that’s a wake-up call, then so be it.”

At 44-30 and ranking fifth in the Western Conference standings, the Grizzlies resume action on Monday, hosting the Boston Celtics in FedExForum.

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