With his 15 points, his tongue pull in the middle of the game and his Team USA cap in the locker room, Vaidas Kariniauskas did not go unnoticed in Lithuania’s victory over the United States on Sunday. “It was Austin himself who gave me this cap” had revealed the Lithuanian rear after his feat.
“I went to Austin because his brother, Spencer, asked me to give him a message”says Kariniauskas. “After the match, I put my cap on without realizing that someone was filming me. Donatas Motiejunas came to greet me afterwards and, to my surprise, I discovered that the video was already circulating on the Internet. »
Vaidas Kariniauskas, Lithuanian top scorer against Team USA, who wears an American cap in the locker room!pic.twitter.com/DibbzylRug
— Basketball USA (@basketusa) September 3, 2023
The Lakers player didn’t take it badly
The video went viral like this hanging tongue addressed to … Austin Reaves after a basket with the fault. “I played with Austin’s brother last year. So I talked to him before the game and he said to me: “Trash talk to him”. And so, I stuck my tongue out at him.” continues Kariniauskas. “Spencer probably didn’t expect us to win, but we did. »
And what did Austin think of all this? “It’s just basketball. He’s a competitor, and so am I. I don’t feel concerned about what he did and I didn’t take it the wrong way.” reacted the back of the Lakers. “A lot of times in my career people looked at me the wrong way, did that kind of thing… It’s basketball, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. Like I said, he played a very good game, they played a very good game collectively, and they beat us. But we will bounce back. »
