In basketball, if Louisville and Kentucky are on the courtroom, drama will seemingly ensue.
That held true Monday evening, when a sport at The Basketball Event between La Familia, a group comprised of former Kentucky gamers, and The Ville, a group that includes former Louisville gamers, ended with a near-brawl following a spitting incident.
Andrew Harrison, who helped lead Kentucky to the 2014 and 2015 Last 4, hit the game-winning 3-pointer in La Familia’s 70-61 victory (Elam ending) at Freedom Corridor in Louisville. The group of 13,506 almost doubled the earlier document (7,202) for the winner-take-all $1 million event.
Through the celebration, La Familia’s Nate Sestina, who led all scorers with 22 factors, embraced The Ville’s Chinanu Onuaku, who advised Sestina to cease utilizing the “L’s down” gesture to mock Louisville.
Onuaku, per video of the incident, advised Sestina, “Do not try this once more,” earlier than he spat in his face.
“Feelings ran excessive,” stated Sestina, who confirmed that Onuaku had spat at him. “That is what this sport does to individuals. It had been nice chatter the entire sport, nothing loopy, nothing private. After which it received private, clearly. That is what this sport is.”
Gamers from each groups then started pushing and shoving each other as safety officers and law enforcement officials stepped between them to stop additional escalation.
Onuaku on Tuesday issued an apology on social media.
“I wish to apologize for my actions following final evening’s sport,” Onuaku posted to X. “I let my feelings and delight for my college overcome me within the second. I really like my UofL and I really like this city. L’s up.”
It was simply the newest dustup within the rivalry.
Former Kentucky coach Eddie Sutton as soon as referred to as Louisville “little brother” throughout an interview. In 1989, Louisville’s Boo Brewer caught Kentucky’s Sean Woods beneath the basket and tossed him over his shoulder. And throughout the 2015-16 season, Rick Pitino, who has received nationwide titles at each faculties, was teaching the Cardinals at Rupp Enviornment when he was accused of utilizing an obscene gesture as he left the courtroom (Pitino denied it).
On Monday, former NBA stars have been on either side. Montrezl Harrell, who performed for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2022-23, led a Louisville group that additionally featured Peyton Siva and Russ Smith, two stars on the 2013 nationwide title group. La Familia included former NBA gamers akin to Willie Cauley-Stein and Eric Bledsoe, who was on the NBA All-Defensive first group in 2018-19.
Cauley-Stein, who final performed within the NBA throughout the 2021-22 season, stated he agreed to play in TBT due to Monday’s matchup with Louisville’s alumni group.
“This sport proper right here that we simply performed was the explanation that I made a decision to return play,” Cauley-Stein stated. “This factor is completely different. I knew it was going to promote out. … There is no such thing as a different feeling like that. It took 10 years to get that feeling again. I will trip it for the subsequent couple of days for positive.”
La Familia advances to the quarterfinals of TBT.
Following the postgame shoving match, Sestina did not again down on his view of the rivalry.
“L’s down,” he stated. “All the time.”
