Danilo Gallinari and the Italian national team met the Dutch in a friendly, but the on-court antics would’ve had you thinking otherwise.
The Los Angeles Clippers signed Danilo Gallinari this offseason to a three-year deal worth a bit more than $64 million. On Sunday, their new small forward was overseas when him and Dutch center Jito Kok got into an altercation.
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Both bigs were fighting for position to get a rebound. They took the term “fighting” literally. Kok hit Gallinari with a stiff arm, so the Italian got up, reared back and hit his opponent in the face with his right hand. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Gallinari injured his right thumb on the blow but should be ready for the start of training camp. It’s not a serious injury and it won’t require surgery.
Gallinari vs Kok! pic.twitter.com/ofPFDOXuCQ
— Armando Caporaso (@Facu_PCF) July 30, 2017
This isn’t the first time Galo has dealt with a relatively serious ailment. Since coming into the NBA in 2009, the 28-year-old has played more than 70 games in a season just twice, and he’s eclipsed the 80-game benchmark just once. The frustrating part is that Gallinari is a game-changer when healthy.
Last season, in 63 games with the Denver Nuggets, he put up 18.2 points and 5.2 rebounds with a true shooting percentage of 62.2.
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