Nicolas Batum Feels Bad About Nut-Punching Juan Carlos Navarro


The Portland Trailblazers’ team website caught up with forward Nicolas Batum, who talked about his infamous nut-punch this summer during the Olympics. Batum regrets the incident:”What I’m mad about is what I showed to people about myself, what I showed about the game, about France, everything,’ said Batum. ‘I feel bad about it because that’s not me. I’m human. I lost it. I just lost it. You don’t want this type of action. I can’t do it. You can’t see that on the court. If the (International Basketball) Federation or the Olympics want to suspend me a couple games or fine me, I’m okay with that. I won’t say anything.’ Batum didn’t like what he was seeing after enduring a lockout season, a prolonged contract negotiation and an earlier than expected exit from the Olympics. So for the first time in years, Batum forced himself to step away from the court in order to rest his body and gain some perspective. ‘The (offseason) was really crazy for me. I needed rest. The first time, I think in six or seven years, that I got much time to rest before the season starts. I really needed it… Over the last 20 days I got some rest, but I know I have to be ready for this year so I came early this year because I want to be with the team. I want to show them that you can trust me.’ […] ‘This city and these fans know the game. They’ve had a lot of different, great players here,’ said Batum. ‘So with the contract I got, people expect huge things from me, and I understand that. So I don’t want to disappoint them. I just want to bring it every night. I know my game. I know I can do something good. I know that. I know who I am and I know what I can do, but I have to work harder to be a great player. I want to be something in this league. That’s why I’m here. I’m going to have some bad nights sometimes. Everyone has a bad night, but I’m going to try to have a lot of great and good nights.'”