First the United States’ Carmelo Anthony was on the receiving end of a fist to the junk, and now this. But this nut shot, delivered by France’s Nic Batum to Spain’s Juan Carlos Navarro, is a lot more brutal and vicious than the one Anthony took, because Batum’s intentions were as clear and articulate as a punch to the groin can be.
The nasty incident occurred during Spain’s 66-59 win over France, which sends them off to the semifinals to face Russia. It’s pretty obvious that Batum was looking to do some damage to the unsuspecting Navarro, and although 99% of the time seeing a guy take a shot to the nuts is hilarious, this time it’s just downright awful. Batum, for his part, wasn’t apologetic for his actions—he also wasn’t ejected for them either—telling Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski exactly why he targeted Navarro’s manhood…
That’s as reasonable, if not slightly insane, a reason to punch an opponent in the nuts if I ever heard one.
Here’s a GIF of the incident, because a video would just be taken down by the IOC anyway (via BuzzFeed Sports)…
That’s just dirty play by Batum, and totally uncalled for. Obviously France doesn’t adhere to the Bro Code, because Batum should know by now that a l’écrou shot is very much frowned upon, heat of the moment or not.
