Nicolas Batum induced a near-brawl at the end of France's Olympic basketball quarterfinal loss to Spain when he punched Spain guard Juan Carlos Navarro in the groin. Tempers flared, and Batum remained angry after the game ended. However, he was much more apologetic several hours later, sending out this message on his Twitter account.
Nicolas Batum Apologies For Punch, Says He Showed ‘Bad Image’ Of France
I want to apologize for my stupid act at the end, I showed a bad image of France and myself, Congrats to team Spain.
— Nicolas Batum (@nicolas88batum) August 8, 2012
Batum was sort of going for a strip on Navarro, but he closed his fist and followed through on his swing. Here’s the play.
Batum was not very apologetic after the game, calling out Spain for flopping and deliberately losing their final game of group play to face France instead of being on the same side of the bracket as Team USA. A couple hours after the game appeared to have cooled him down, at least publicly.
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