Old rivalries die hard.
A brawl broke out Monday night at a basketball tournament between “La Familia,” a Kentucky player from the mid-2010s, and “The Ville,” a University of Louisville basketball alumnus, resulting in a 70-64 victory for the former Wildcats.
Former Kentucky star Nate Sestina claimed the brawl started when Chinanu Onuaku spat on him.
“Emotions were high. That’s what this game does to people,” Sestina said. After the match, on3“There was a lot of fun conversation going on throughout the game. Nothing funny or personal. But then it obviously got personal.”
“This game is L-down vs. L-up. (Onuaku) was like, ‘Don’t go L-down here,’ and I was like, ‘Okay.’ L-down is always… damn, it’s awesome to win.”
In a video posted to X by Louisville sportscaster Kinisei Lee, Onuaku appears to spit on Sestina as he attempts to shake his hand after the hard-fought win.
Former NBA player Willie Cauley-Stein soon found himself at the center of the altercation, which appeared to escalate from there with some pushing and shoving.
In the end, cooler heads prevailed and no fistfight seems to have taken place.
Former Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison sealed the win with a 3-pointer.
Team La Familia, consisting of Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton, Andrew and Aaron Harrison and Cauley Stein, will advance to the 64-team semi-finals.
They will face off against Carmen’s Crew, a team made up of Ohio State alumni led by former first-round draft pick Jared Sullinger, with the winner taking home the $1 million prize.
In this league, there is a target score at the end of the game, rather than a race against the clock like in a typical 5-on-5 basketball scenario.
