Iman Shumpert and Jusuf Nurkic are beefing over a hard screen

Sacramento Kings guard Iman Shumpert waited for Portland Trail Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic outside of the locker room after Sacramento’s 115-107 win over Portland Monday night. Shumpert said he just wanted to have a conversation, but usually, those words are code for wanting all the smoke.

Shumpert vs. Nurkic is the most unlikely beef you’d expect to see. Nurkic is a 7’, 280-pound Bosnian big man whose father was a 7’, 400-pound police officer. Shumpert is 6’5. His heart might be 8’ tall.

Nurkic absolutely leveled Shumpert with an off-ball screen in the first quarter. Shumpert ate Nurkic’s shoulder before being sent to the ground. He then got up and walked to Nurkic with balled fists.

Here’s another angle of the screen.

Things never got physical, though, and they continued to play on.

Nurkic traditionally sets pretty brutal screens, and the line between legal and illegal can be blurry at times. Here’s a pick he set on Patty Mills last season.

During the game, Shumpert also had some words with a member of Trail Blazers’ security.

And some reports have indicated he tried to enter the Trail Blazers’ locker room, only to be met by team security.

“Some stuff needed to be between me and him, a conversation between two men,” Shumpert said, according to the AP. “Some stuff happened out there that we needed to have a conversation about. That’s it.”

Nurkic’s response, per the AP: “He’s going into retirement soon. I’m not going to worry about a guy who’s going into retirement soon.”

Shumpert later apologized to Kings fans on Twitter.

He also denied the idea that he tried to barge into Portland’s locker room.

Nurkic sets hard screens, but he definitely stuck his shoulder out on this play. Just like he blindsided Patty Mills last season, he caught Shumpert in the jaw when he wasn’t expecting it. He even put his hands up as if he knew he did something wrong and was trying to play it off.

Shumpert has reason to be upset, but he did the right thing by apologizing for confronting Nurkic the game.

When Shump rolled up on Nurk with balled fists in the open court, it looked like things were going to escalate quickly. But no punches were throw, Nurkic didn’t look the slightest bit fazed, and in the end, they never even got to talk after the game.

This was moderately spicy beef, a little spicier than Popeye’s mild chicken. Six out of 10 at best.

Even though they never got to talk about that hard screen, provided both rosters stay intact the remainder of the season, Shump and Nurk will see each other one more time. That game is on April 10. It’s last game of the season. A game that could have playoff implications for both teams.