Report: Teammates Had to Intervene During Pascal Siakam And Nick Nurse Exchange
A confrontation between Raptors forward Pascal Siakam and coach Nick Nurse called for teammates to intervene, according to Sportsnet's Michael Grange.
The report comes a day after Siakam was reportedly fined $50,000 for the same verbal altercation by The Athletic's Shams Charania. The Raptors later denied the report that Siakam was fined but told The Athletic they were still mulling disciplinary action.
The initial report from The Athletic stated that the incident occurred while the Raptors were leaving the court after a loss against the Cavaliers and that Siakam had several "choice words" for Nurse. But Sportnet's report states that Siakam confronted Nurse in the visiting locker room "loudly and aggressively with words beyond standard cursing."
A source told Sportsnet that Raptors island "is not in a happy place."
During media availability on Wednesday, Nurse addressed his relationship with Siakam.
"As far as I'm concerned, I'm coaching Pascal," he said. "It was not awkward coaching him one bit the next night. That's where we are."
The Raptors are the No. 11 seed in the Eastern Conference at 17–26 and are scheduled to face the Nuggets on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.
Siakam leads the team in scoring with 19.8 points per game.