Mavericks star Luka Doncic and Los Angeles Clippers forward Montrezl Harrell got into a heated exchange during Saturday’s Game 3 of the NBA playoffs. And at one point, Harrell appeared to direct a “(expletive) white boy” insult at Doncic.
While Harrell reached out to Doncic — according to Clippers coach Doc Rivers — after the game to apologize for the remark, the two players exchanged pleasantries in person before Sunday’s Game 4.
Harrell, who was heavily criticized for invoking race as an insult, appeared to apologize once again to Doncic. The two players hugged it out before returning back to partake in pregame shootaround.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Rivers said that Doncic was shocked that Harrell felt he needed to reach out to begin with. He said:
“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.”
It was good to see that the players were able to talk out the incident and move on.
