By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Los Angeles Clippers forward Montrezl Harrell apologized to Luka Doncic following the verbal exchange between the two in Game 3 and the comments he made towards him.
“They squashed it,” Rivers said to Sports Illustrated while mentioning that Harrell reached out to Doncic for an apology. The Mavs star was a bit surprised.
“Luka, I guess, was shocked that he needed to reach out,” Rivers added. Before the Game 4 tipoff, Harrell and Doncic hugged each other in reconciliation.
Montrezl Harrell apologized to Luka Doncic pregame for comments he made about Doncic in Game 3. pic.twitter.com/L9Ej5I3AmO
— ESPN (@espn) August 23, 2020
Early in Game 3, Harrell appeared to be calling Doncic a “bitc—, as– white boy” while returning to defense after scoring a basket on him. A bit later, Doncic fouled Harrell and stared down at him while he was on the floor. When Harrell got up, he engaged in a short verbal altercation with the Mavs star.
“You just have to be careful,” Rivers said. “They both were talking. I don’t think Luka was saying anything racial, but he was swearing. So they both were doing it. It’s an emotional game. It’s a playground game out there in the playoffs. I said to him, ‘Hey, I don’t think you meant anything racially by it.’ He said ‘white boy,’ but I don’t think there was anything racial intended. But we are in a very heightened climate and you have to be careful. Trez was the first one to say that. He said, ‘I didn’t mean that racially.’ And I said it doesn’t matter. It’s what’s perceived … make sure you do the right thing.”