In the first game versus his former team, the Washington Wizards, Marcin Gortat of the Los Angeles Clippers may be looking for closure.
Marcin Gortat and the Washington Wizards did not have an amicable end to their five seasons together. Now, as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers he will face his former team as they square off on Sunday night.
Gortat had some of his best years with the Wizards as he and John Wall seemingly played well off each other. Although he was at best a third option on the team behind Wall and Bradley Beal, Gortat was consistent and helped Washington in their playoff runs.
As is still true with the Wizards though, personality issues got in the way. Last season, in the midst of Wall missing two weeks due to injury, Gortat put out a seemingly innocuous tweet.
https://twitter.com/MGortat/status/959286793123250177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E959286793123250177&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbnation.com%2F2018%2F2%2F14%2F17011022%2Fjohn-wall-marcin-gortat-beef-wizards-twitter-great-team-win-lol
Wall took offense to this, simply responding with “Lol”. Things went even further as Wall went on to appear on ESPN and talked about how Gortat was just being fed baskets and nothing more. The two eventually “settled” their differences but Gortat was traded quickly after the season for Austin Rivers.
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!
While there have been no reports of words spoken yet, expect the Wizards and Gortat to get into it a little bit on Sunday. The Wizards are, if nothing else, confident to a fault and braggadocios. Players have already come out and said they should be considered as one of the East’s best.
Markieff Morris was ejected in the team’s first preseason game and more recently, was fined for pulling on Seth Curry’s shorts while Morris was not in the game.
All of this is to say, don’t expect hugs and handshakes when the Wiz come to Los Angeles. There will be bad blood, likely centered around Morris, Wall and Gortat.
Gortat will be smart to avoid any confrontation and to just play his game. The Wizards don’t have a real big man right now with both Dwight Howard and Ian Mahinmi injured. If he manages not to engage in extracurriculars, Gortat could have his best game of the young season against this Wizards squad.
Wouldn’t playing well and stomping out your former team be better than any actual confrontation?