Zaza Pachulia was just like his name—truly a piece of trash.
As a second-round pick in 2003, Pachulia's first few years in the league had been unremarkable, overshadowed by the star-studded "super platinum generation."
It was not until Pachulia joined the Hawks in 2005 that he truly became known to fans.
That season, Pachulia averaged career-highs of 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds.
Of course, more than those rapidly improving stats, what truly made Pachulia famous were the wild moves he had displayed since his Hawks days!
Wrestling takedowns, elbow strikes, slaps, flying kicks... Pachulia had used practically every harmful move imaginable.
If you thought he was just some easy-to-bully big white guy, then you were dead wrong.
After joining the championship-contending Warriors, Pachulia faced that level of attention for the first time. As a result, his vile acts on the court spread even more widely.
Now, the entire world knew that Pachulia was a genuine thug. The Warriors' interior pairing of him and Green was practically a giant meat grinder.
At a time like this, with everyone taking the Grizzlies' side, Pachulia perhaps felt that he ought to step forward and say something.
Little did he know, the first people he hurt were his own teammates.
When Green and Durant saw Pachulia at practice the next day, their eyes were filled with resentment.
Still, since Pachulia had spoken up for the team, they could not exactly say much.
But if Link really got provoked... no one would have an easy time in that night's game.
After Pachulia spoke out, Link did not even need to respond before Pachulia was completely drowned in the fans' spit.
No matter which team they supported, fans definitely disliked players who played dirty.
Competitive sports were indeed physical, and genuine head-to-head clashes were the greatest