SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kings guard Iman Shumpert was stopped from going into the Portland locker room by arena and Trail Blazers security after Sacramento’s 115-107 victory Monday night.
Shumpert apparently was angry at Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, who set a hard screen in the second half.
“Some stuff needed to be between me and him, a conversation between two men,” Shumpert said. “Some stuff happened out there that we needed to have a conversation about. That’s it.”
Nurkic shrugged it off.
“I’m not going to worry about it,” he said. “He’s going into retirement soon. I’m not going to worry about a guy who’s going into retirement soon.”
After the game, Shumpert apologized via Twitter.
I apologize to the fans if I made a scene. Wasn’t my intention but this 2019 stuff is all about a “story”. Don’t let that distract you from this young Scores ball club getting a great victory against a tested Blazers team #theScoresisHERE #purpletalk
— Iman. (@imanshumpert) January 15, 2019
The 28-year-old Shumpert was called for a technical foul in the third quarter. He later was walked to the Sacramento bench by a teammate after arguing with someone on the Portland bench.