‘If you showed less sportsmanship your NBA career would have lasted longer’ Nick Kyrgios called a jerk following antics during a celebrity basketball match in Sydney

‘If you showed less sportsmanship your NBA career would have lasted longer’ Nick Kyrgios called a jerk following antics during a celebrity basketball match in Sydney

Nick Kyrgios, Steve Carfino

Nick Kyrgios, the current world number 29 has made headlines again, and not for a tennis tournament. He always finds himself involved in arguments both on and off the court due to his short temper and unruly attitude. This time he finds himself getting heat from the former NBL player, Steve Carfino.

Nick Kyrgios was a part of a celebrity basketball game being organized for charity. The match was held to raise funds for the Starlight Foundation. The other participants of the event included the New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet and a former Miss Universe Australia Maria Thattil.

Nick Kyrgios was overly competitive

Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios doesn’t like to lose and that’s the case with most professional players. However, many can control this instinct outside the arena of competition but that’s not the case with Nick. He wanted to do well in this match too and it was visible in the efforts he put in. He blocked the shots of Dominic Perrottet and even snatched the ball off Maria Thattil.

Steve Carfino didn’t like this attitude from Nick and called him ‘a jerk’. He believed that it was not right to be so competitive in an exhibition match. He said:

“I just thought it was unsportsmanlike, you know? It wasn’t the right moment to show how dominant you can be against, you know, Australia’s contestant for Miss World. He’s trying to block her shot. He’s going hard, blocking the shot of the premier, you know, didn’t come out, refused to come out of the game. We had 18 players and we got ever and we got everybody in. I think it was you know, for the betterment of the game. You know, that was the right thing to do.”

While Maria defended Nick for him being competitive, Nick Kyrgios was fast to respond. He didn’t take too kindly to the criticism and called the former NBL player a ‘potato’. He said: “Lack of respect? You potato, have a look at my foundation and look me in my eyes and tell me what lack of respect there is for that?”

Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios

Kyrgios didn’t stop there, he even got personal with Carfino’s early retirement which was the result of back problems he was having. He continued: “Maybe if you showed less sportsmanship your NBA career would have lasted longer.”

Carfino also responded to Nick’s remarks about him. He said that there were better places to showcase his sporting abilities instead of showing them in front of a beauty pageant and a premier. He said: “‘I’ll wear that I just think that it wasn’t the right time in the right place. You know, to me, it looked like it looked like a Seinfeld episode when Kramer was beating up on little kids in the karate class.”

Also Read: “Early birthday present” Holger Rune crushes Alexander Zverev to claim his first ATP Top-10 win