Nic Batum Punched Juan Carlos Navarro In the Balls: "I Wanted to Give Him a Good Reason to Flop"
By Kyle Koster
Nic Batum and France crumbled late, falling to Spain, 66-59 in the men’s basketball Olympic quarterfinals. It was kind of an embarrassing win for Spain, as it struggled scoring but held France to a 6-point 4th quarter. France’s Nic Batum shot just 3-of-12 in a frustrating loss (teammate Tony Parker broke his googles after the game). With less than :30 left and the outcome decided, Batum took a full swing with a closed fist and punched Juan Carlos Navarro of Spain directly in the testicles.
Update: Batum is going to own the nut punch. Wow.
I asked Nicolas Batum why he hit Juan-Carlos Navarro in the groin. "I wanted to give him a good reason to flop," Batum said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 8, 2012
Batum also feels that Spain may have laid down for Brazil.
Told Batum some won't think groin shot is in Olympic spirit. Batum: "Do you think if you lost a game on purpose, that's the Olympic spirit?"
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 8, 2012
Batum said he believes that Spain tanked final preliminary game against Brazil to face France in quarterfinals.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) August 8, 2012
Great stuff from Woj.
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