Jay Williams went after Montrezl Harrell for what he appeared to say to Luka Doncic after the two got into a dustup in Saturday night’s playoff game between the Dallas Mavericks and the L.A. Clippers.
Harrell and Doncic got into a scuffle after the two players tripped each other at the Clippers’ defense end, and Harrell ended up on the court. Doncic told Harrell: “Stop flopping man.” That didn’t sit well with Harrell, who had to be separated from Doncic. After Harrell scored on Doncic later in the game, he appeared to hurl a racially-charged insult at Doncic.
Williams, a retired NBA star and ESPN analyst, put Harrell on blast.
“I am no lip-reader, but damn Trez. Damn Montrezl,” Williams said in a video he posted to Twitter Sunday. “I can only imagine if Luka Doncic had said something like that to you and it got caught on tape. I can only imagine during Black Lives Matter how much of a big deal that would have been, considering today’s climate and state. It would’ve been a massive story, and Luka would’ve lost all credibility in this space. Everybody would’ve been commenting on it. People would’ve asked LeBron (James) about it. People would’ve asked Kawhi (Leonard) about it. Everyone would’ve had some kind of statement about it.
“But it’s not that big of a story, because Trez said it to a caucasian person. It should be a big story, because that’s not acceptable man. Look, I’m a hooper. I talk trash. I cuss people out. We can get into the nuances of whether that’s right or wrong, too, but what you said, involving race into it. And I’ve heard that being said in basketball scenarios and playing hoops in the inner cities. I still didn’t find it acceptable then. I don’t find it acceptable now, especially when cameras are on you 24/7. Get lost in your battle, man. But don’t get lost in saying things like that.”
Here’s a look at the initial exchange between Harrell and Doncic, when the Mavericks guard accused the Clippers forward of flopping after their legs got tangled in transition.
The incident hasn’t made many headlines. In fact, CBS Sports’ Doug Gottlieb brushed off Harrell’s comments by saying “this is not racist. It’s just basketball.” It’s a tough line to draw: Is it normal trash talk, or did Harrell cross the line?
