A fight during a EuroBasket 2022 game between Turkey and Georgia allegedly turned violent off the court in an incident involving 76ers forward Furkan Korkmaz.
The 25-year-old was allegedly attacked by members of the Georgia basketball team and police while walking to the locker room after being ejected from the game on Sunday, according to a statement released by Turkish federation vice president Omer Onan.
“Korkmaz was thrown out of the game on Sunday in Tbilisi, Georgia, after he picked up two technical fouls following an altercation with Georgia’s Duda Sanadze. Things got so heated that fans even started throwing things onto the court while the two players were being separated,” Yahoo Sports reports.
The original incident stemmed from Korkmaz getting into it with Sandze after a hard foul. The two angrily butted heads before being separated by officials and were immediately ejected.
After the game, the veteran NBA guard confirmed he was attacked.
“As soon as we walked out of the tunnel and were trying to reach the locker room, I saw three Georgian players alongside two security guys running at us. We started throwing punches at each other. That’s basically what happened,” Korkmaz said, via BasketNews.
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“It was like a street fight. There was no talk or conversation. People just came at us and were trying to attack us. Of course, we reacted and tried to defend ourselves — exactly what we are going to do as men. I also think it’s a security problem. But I don’t know if it’s a security problem or if they just showed tolerance to their players.”
Korkmaz was a first-round pick of the 76ers in 2016 and averaged 7.6 points and 2.6 rebounds for them last season.
