Kawhi Leonard

Warriors' Zaza Pachulia says his family received threats after Kawhi Leonard's injury

Published May. 21, 2017 8:17 p.m. ET

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Brett Pollakoff

Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia slid under a jump-shot from Kawhi Leonard in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, causing Leonard to suffer an ankle injury after landing on Pachulia's foot.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/863882458730643456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxsports.com%2Fnba%2Fstory%2Fspurs-kawhi-leonard-re-injures-ankle-wont-return-for-game-1-051417

The play has been debated and dissected ever since, with plenty of folks believing that what Pachulia did was dirty at best, and intentional at worst. One of those with the latter opinion is Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who ripped Pachulia for his actions the very next day.

In an interview with USA Today's Sam Amick, Pachulia explained why he believed that rant from Popovich was directly responsible for the threats on social media that his family received.

“I don’t blame everything on Pop, but what he said had a lot of influence (and) you had a lot of people where, unfortunately, you can’t control what everybody’s intelligence is,” Pachulia, who has an eight-year-old son, a seven-year-old son, and a four-year-old daughter with his wife, told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday. “(Fans) just hear the message, and it’s, ‘Ok, Pop said so and now let’s do this.’ It’s just wrong. You’ve got to think, and realize. Threaten me, but don’t threaten my wife or say something about my kids. It’s just wrong.

“Me as a person, as a man, I don’t mind dealing with it. But I hate to see my family deal with it. My wife and my kids who have nothing to do with it, who are very innocent. ... I just hate my family going through that. They don’t deserve that. … I’m not blaming everything on (Popovich), but he was a very big part of it.”

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