Lip readers guessed how Josh Giddey warned Josh Richardson after a punch to the groin
What a heated back-and-forth in the final moments.
While fighting for their postseason lives on Wednesday night, the tension between the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans was palpable.
In the fourth quarter of this tight play-in game battle — one where the Thunder prevailed 123-118 — the competitive hostility might have been best encapsulated by the Thunder’s Josh Giddey and the Pelicans’ Josh Richardson.
As Giddey tried to create some dribbling space for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Richardson appeared to take a shot below Giddey’s belt. The Thunder guard took an understandable exception to this before having to be kept from Richardson by his teammates. Richardson would be given a flagrant foul for his troubles.
The ensuing scrum and replay showed Giddey sharing some kind of warning to Richardson.
Tempers flare after Josh Richardson’s flagrant foul on Josh Giddey. pic.twitter.com/pFWOuMaDsb
— ESPN (@espn) April 13, 2023
Josh Richardson hits Josh Giddey below the belt, and Giddey tried to go after him
Richardson was hit with a flagrant foul penalty 1.
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 13, 2023
While it seems apparent what Giddey told Richardson, NBA fans did their best lip-reading to try and confirm what was said in this tense moment.
(Warning: NSFW language in some of the clips and tweets below.)