A player chokes his teammate during a basketball game and it is making news today. The player -- ex-NBA star, Renaldo Balkman -- actually choked his teammate, Arwind Santos, while being held back from fighting with the refs. On March 9, Bleacher Report reported that Balkman got really angry when he was trying to explain how he got fouled while taking a shot.
"The announcer adorably asks for someone to restrain Balkman—something that becomes clear is not going to happen. At least not without somebody getting their neck wrung. As his fellow players try to calm him down, Balkman continues pushing against good sense, ending with him choking his teammate, Arwind Santos" (via Bleacher Report).
The player chokes his teammate claiming that he just got "caught up in the moment" according to his Twitter account. "I got caught up in the moment of a very intense game.I respect @Arwind029 as a person & player.I am proud to be part of @PetronBlaze fam (sic)," Balkman tweeted yesterday.
In the video on the left, you can see just what went down. It's hard to believe that Balkman actually went after his teammate in such a violent way -- it's actually pretty scary. Balkman and Santos just started going back and forth with a little shoving and then Balkman put his hands around Santos' neck.
"This was unintentional towards @arwindsotnas, I am a team player who always has the best interest of the team at heart (sic)," Balkman added.
When a player chokes a teammate, many wonder what exactly is going through their minds. As you can see in the video, Balkman was being shoved and he was very angry -- still no reason to get violent, but he assures fans that it was the just in the heat of the moment. Do you think he should be fined or penalized?
© Effie Orfanides 2013
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