Shannon Sharpe certainly isn’t dismissing Kelly Olynyk’s role in the Thursday night incident in which Kelly Oubre Jr. decked the Boston Celtics center following a hard screen, earning the Washington Wizards forward an ejection in the second quarter of his team’s eventual 116-89 win.
Far from it, in fact.
While discussing Game 3 of the Celtics-Wizards NBA playoff series on Friday’s episode of FS1’s “Undisputed,” Sharpe went so far as to label Olynyk a dirty player, pointing to other questionable incidents involving the Boston big man.
“One thousand percent (he’s a dirty player). One thousand,” Sharpe said, per FOXSports.com. “You saw what he did two years ago. He dislocated Kevin Love’s shoulder. You saw what he did earlier this year. He got Brook Lopez in the exact same maneuver. He didn’t dislocate his shoulder, but it was the same thing.
“He’s dirty. Dirty.”
Bayless didn’t agree, pointing out that each play in question occurred amid the heat of battle and saying, “I don’t see any hockey goon in Kelly Olynyk.” But Sharpe wasn’t buying it. The former NFL tight end-turned-talking head clearly feels Olynyk crossed the line with his hard screen that preceded Oubre’s outburst.
“Come on, Skip,” Sharpe said, according to FOXSports.com. “You love MMA. When those guys get their opponents in an armbar, or an ankle hold. You know why their arms don’t pop out of their socket? Because they tap out before it does.
“OK what about the play on Robin Lopez? Look at it!”
Nevertheless, the Celtics and Wizards don’t appear to like each other very much, suggesting more debates like this could be in the cards until one team punches its ticket to the Easter Conference finals. The Celtics currently hold a 2-1 series lead, with Game 4 scheduled for Sunday in Washington.
