Inside Real Madrid-Partizan fight: violent act that clouded greatness / News - Basketnews.com

A fight between Real Madrid and Partizan players overshadowed the incredible Partizan performance. While there was plenty of behind the scene stuff, it also brings another challenge for the new EuroLeague management.

Credit: Jesus Orihuela/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Jesus Orihuela/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

What happened on April 27, 2023, in WiZink Center in Madrid will be remembered for ages in EuroLeague history. And unfortunately, not for good reasons.

Player of the Game EFF 20 Mathias Lessort Points 10 Accuracy 4-6 Rebounds 9 Assists 1

EuroLeague now has its own Malice at the Palace moment that overshadowed an incredible Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade performance in the Spanish capital.

It's a shame, and if in Game 1, Partizan won off [thanks to their fans' support] and on the court, last night Real Madrid lost Game 2 off [again, because of Partizan fans] and on the court.

When Game 2 was already put to bed, Real Madrid players did something you wouldn't expect from Real Madrid or any other highest-level sports team. They threw a towel with more than 2 minutes left.

After Dzanan Musa's miss with 2:35 remaining, Real simply refused to play defense, with Zach LeDay hitting a final nail in the Los Blancos coffin. What followed after is a disgrace to any sport, not just basketball.

Vincent Poirier committed a hard and unnecessary foul on Kevin Punter, sending himself to the bench with 5th personal foul. 10 seconds later, Sergio Llull made another foolish foul, and the hell broke loose.

Let's try to breakdown the fight between Real Madrid and Partizan:

Sergio Llull commits an unnecessary foul on Kevin Punter. Punter immediately reacts, bumps into Llull, but no punches are thrown. Guerschon Yabusele comes first to Punter and Llull. Dante Exum joins them seconds later in an attempt to protect Punter/separate everyone. Gabriel Deck jumps onto Exum's back and wraps his arms around the Australian. Exum breaks free and responds to Deck by punching into his stomach. Yabusele grabs Exum from the back and slams him onto the court. Musa tries to confront Punter, but before he does something, the Partizan guard slaps him in the face/head area. Mathias Lessort arrives from halfcourt and shoves Musa onto the ground. Individual fights come to an end, with one final massive brawl occurring between both team players until the whole situation finally gets de-escalated.

Before we go further, there's another thing that must be addressed.

Could the whole incident have been avoided if Punter didn't react? Yes.

However, when there are two consecutive reckless fouls in 10 seconds span during the trash minutes, one might lose his nerves.

Both parties are definitely responsible for what happened, but looking at the broader picture and the whole context, it's clear who started this whole shitshow.

Although the whole scene looks shameful, Yabusele's action against Exum must be discussed separately.

3-pointers this season

40%8,6Points made:8,6Accuracy:40,1%Place in standings:14Record max:17Record min:3Most made 3FGs:Kevin PunterTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

An action that looks like from UFC fight could have ended in a much bigger disaster. A combo involving a person's head, spine, strong force that brings him down, and hardwood asks for huge trouble.

In fact, Exum ended up injured. Luckily, not with a life or career-threatening injury.

"The tendon in his second toe has ruptured. Serious injury," Partizan's doctor Moma Jakovljevic told Telegraf. "He will have to go to Belgrade on crutches, so we can do additional tests there. His upper lip was also injured.

"The way Yabusele threw him with a judo move, that's for prison, for life suspension. As Yabusele threw him, Exum could have broken his spine and seriously injured his head which would have ended his career," Jakovljevic added for Mozzart Sport. "This was terrible. I have never seen this in my life."

Indeed, it was a violent act that had no excuses. That being said, the new EuroLeague management duo of president Dejan Bodiroga and CEO Marshall Glickman faces another challenge in their debut season.

They did brilliantly in Facundo Campazzo's case, setting the precedent that any kind of nonsense won't be tolerated.

So, it will be interesting to see what kind of punishments and suspensions the EuroLeague will issue. And oh boy, we could see plenty of them.

Sergio Llull, Guerschon Yabusele, Gabriel Deck, Kevin Punter, Mathias Lessort, and Dante Exum look like prime candidates for suspensions. The question remains of how many (if any) games these players will be suspended.

Moreover, as Olympiacos Piraeus guard Isaiah Canaan pointed out, depending on the suspended players, this serious could make a serious 180-degree turn.

Let's say, Punter, Lessort, and Exum all get suspended for at least one game. Yes, Real Madrid wouldn't have some players either, but we are talking about the whole cornerstone.

By winning Game 3, Real would likely get some confidence back, and who knows? Depending on the suspensions' length and other factors, the Spanish powerhouse might tie the series.

Of course, at this point, it's nothing but speculation. Regardless, if this incident significantly impacts the whole series, it will become even more scandalous.

The only person who acted in a respectful manner was Rudy Fernandez. Real Madrid captain was the only one who showed sportsmanship, respect, and the values that a player should carry while playing for as big a club as Real Madrid is.

First, he was the only Real Madrid player who checked on Exum. He left the court by hugging Zeljko Obradovic while talking about what did just happen.

Rudy Fernandez Zeljko ObradovicCredit Jesus Orihuela/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Most importantly, he took the responsibility by coming to a press conference.

"I have to thank Zeljko: he said it all," Fernandez began. "I think it's difficult, a difficult situation for us, for everyone. I experienced it as a player. It's difficult to live this, to have the home-court advantage, and a team like Partizan plays better than we did."

"Then this happened, and we can talk about what Punter said and what Llull said. But the reason we are here is basketball. We can't repeat what happened in those last minutes," he added.

Looking at Fernandez's example and leadership, it's even more bizarre that such an experienced player like Llull was at the epicenter of the whole incident.

Post-game

After a chaotic end of the game, every media member swamped the press area. And you know that something crazy happens when you see that police forces block entry into the mixed zone.

For the record, later on, the mixed zone was available, although none of the players made a stop for a talk. The lone exception was Obradovic, who gave his statement to the Serbian press.

Nevertheless, the tensions were high, as Dante Exum's father, Cecil, was also involved. Exum's father wanted to see his injured son but wasn't allowed to do it. The 60-year-old got into a verbal altercation with the venue's security but ultimately left the scene without it escalating more.

The press conference was also delayed by at least 20-30 minutes because Partizan officials were waiting for confirmation about their victory. As soon as it was sorted, both press conferences took place.

"This is in the hands of the officials and in the hands of the EuroLeague," Obradovic stated. "I believe that what happened is not good for the image of basketball, not good for the image of Real Madrid nor for Partizan."

"This should never happen, in my opinion. Second, we are speaking of emotions, right? The players have emotions, and this has happened. From this moment on, I am going to try to calm all the people in Belgrade. Why? Because I have friends here. And when we go to Belgrade tomorrow, I'm going to talk about that.

I'm going to try to calm everybody so that we receive Real Madrid as the people here have received us. They will support our team, yes, but they will not do anything against Real Madrid. Everyone has to feel good," added Partizan head coach.

Yet, after the official part was concluded, the evening was far from over. Plenty of Partizan fans were outside the WiZink center, singing songs and greeting every player coming from the tunnel.

As Partizan were still waiting for an official report from the referees, Obradovic was the last person to enter the bus. As you would expect, he was greeted with great support from the fans.

Another 10 minutes went by, and the Partizan bus finally took off. A chaotic, unpredictable, and unprecedented evening came to an end.

Looking at the upcoming future, one thing is clear: no one would want to be Real Madrid in Belgrade next week.

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