NBA big men Ivica Zubac and Dario Saric starred in a night club brawl near Athens on Monday morning.
A few hours after suiting up for Croatia in an Olympic Qualifying loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece, Zubac and Saric were filmed scrapping with a civilian at Bolivar Beach Bar around 5.30am.
A video obtained by TMZ Sports shows the LA Clippers’ starting center involved in a scrap as several men – who appear to be club security – held him back. Team Croatia later told TMZ that Zubac and Saric acted in self defense during the incident.
‘While hanging out at a club in Athens, some of our players were verbally and then physically attacked, prompting them to defend themselves,’ the CBF said, per TMZ.
‘The incident was brief, thanks to the quick intervention of the club’s security staff.’
Ivica Zubac and Dario Saric were involved in a night club brawl near Athens early on Monday
The Nuggets forward Saric was seen trapped in another man’s chokehold during the incident
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While the chaos unfolded, Saric – who recently agreed to a two-year deal with the Denver Nuggets – dashed into the scene to aid his countryman. However, a staffer appeared to shove the former Golden State Warriors forward away from the scuffle.
The incident hit a peak when a man got Saric on the ground and put him in a chokehold.
As Zubac tried to make his way to Saric, another bystander is seen yelling at the Clippers big man, telling him to calm down. This resulted in Zubac backing down with his hands up.
Saric eventually got up and stumbled his way to Zubac before they were pushed towards the exit.
Zubac is the starting center for LA while Saric recently signed a two-year deal with Denver
The brawl came after they Croatia’s 80-69 loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece
While the cause of the incident remains unknown, the flame was fortunately put out without police getting involved.
The brawl came after Croatia lost, 80-69, to Greece who punched their ticket to the Olympic games in Paris.
Despite losing the game, Zubac put up a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Meanwhile, Saric put up 14 points on the board for Kockasti.
Antetokounmpo had 23 points and eight rebounds as Greece secured their first Olympics berth in 16 years.