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LOS ANGELES – Sasha Vujacic has a new high-profile nemesis: Chris Paul.
Vujacic’s unique resume that already featured being choked by Carmelo Anthony now includes being called by Paul a five-letter word that starts with “B.â€
That’s what Vujacic said Paul called him late in New Orleans’ victory over the Lakers on Tuesday night.
“He called me names on numerous occasions,†Vujacic said.
For yelling back at Paul – even though Vujacic insisted all he said was: “What did you say?!†– Vujacic got a technical foul from referee Joey Crawford. (Then Vujacic got an earful from teammate Kobe Bryant, who was more than a little peeved that this game in which he was so absurdly hot with his shot was slipping away.)
You could see Paul did say something to Vujacic that got his attention as early as the first quarter. Vujacic had come into the game and immediately hit a 3-point shot over Paul, but Paul answered with a jumper over Vujacic as the shot clock was expiring.
Next time down, Vujacic was called for a foul for slapping Paul’s raised arm on a jump shot so hard that Paul fell to the floor, and Paul got up yapping.
That was the first of three fouls called on Vujacic in the span of a minute and a half, another source of his frustration. Vujacic wound up committing five fouls in just 10 ½ minutes in a game that Lakers coach Phil Jackson described as “Sasha not being able to compete tonight because of foul troubles and other things going on with him.â€
It left Vujacic, always emotional and prideful, more than a little bitter about the defeat, the Lakers’ first loss in three meetings this season against the Hornets.
“It’s one game,†Vujacic said. “We’re playing for a championship. They might be playing for this game.â€
It is true that New Orleans coach Byron Scott had motivated his players by saying they needed to prove they could beat the Lakers, but that was hardly the extent of Vujacic’s implication.
Then again, considering Vujacic so openly assesses that the Lakers are better than the Celtics, why not declare obvious superiority over the West’s next best team, too?
And on the off chance that the Lakers don’t face the Hornets or the Celtics in the playoffs, there is a subplot for when Crawford officiates postseason Lakers games, too.
“It’s just hard to play when you play against more than five people on the floor,†Vujacic said.
Vujacic said he has never had any previous problems with Crawford, who called most of Vujacic’s fouls. Without making a direct comment about the officiating, Vujacic also said: “The way everything went was disgusting†and “I’m ashamed (by) what I saw tonight.â€
Vujacic said he intends to have the Lakers submit video footage of the game to the NBA office about “the calls on me and everything … I would love to review everything that was going on.â€
Vujacic’s unique resume that already featured being choked by Carmelo Anthony now includes being called by Paul a five-letter word that starts with “B.â€
That’s what Vujacic said Paul called him late in New Orleans’ victory over the Lakers on Tuesday night.
“He called me names on numerous occasions,†Vujacic said.
For yelling back at Paul – even though Vujacic insisted all he said was: “What did you say?!†– Vujacic got a technical foul from referee Joey Crawford. (Then Vujacic got an earful from teammate Kobe Bryant, who was more than a little peeved that this game in which he was so absurdly hot with his shot was slipping away.)
You could see Paul did say something to Vujacic that got his attention as early as the first quarter. Vujacic had come into the game and immediately hit a 3-point shot over Paul, but Paul answered with a jumper over Vujacic as the shot clock was expiring.
Next time down, Vujacic was called for a foul for slapping Paul’s raised arm on a jump shot so hard that Paul fell to the floor, and Paul got up yapping.
That was the first of three fouls called on Vujacic in the span of a minute and a half, another source of his frustration. Vujacic wound up committing five fouls in just 10 ½ minutes in a game that Lakers coach Phil Jackson described as “Sasha not being able to compete tonight because of foul troubles and other things going on with him.â€
It left Vujacic, always emotional and prideful, more than a little bitter about the defeat, the Lakers’ first loss in three meetings this season against the Hornets.
“It’s one game,†Vujacic said. “We’re playing for a championship. They might be playing for this game.â€
It is true that New Orleans coach Byron Scott had motivated his players by saying they needed to prove they could beat the Lakers, but that was hardly the extent of Vujacic’s implication.
Then again, considering Vujacic so openly assesses that the Lakers are better than the Celtics, why not declare obvious superiority over the West’s next best team, too?
And on the off chance that the Lakers don’t face the Hornets or the Celtics in the playoffs, there is a subplot for when Crawford officiates postseason Lakers games, too.
“It’s just hard to play when you play against more than five people on the floor,†Vujacic said.
Vujacic said he has never had any previous problems with Crawford, who called most of Vujacic’s fouls. Without making a direct comment about the officiating, Vujacic also said: “The way everything went was disgusting†and “I’m ashamed (by) what I saw tonight.â€
Vujacic said he intends to have the Lakers submit video footage of the game to the NBA office about “the calls on me and everything … I would love to review everything that was going on.â€
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