It seemed to come out of nowhere at the time. The Spurs had just completed their comfortable 107-91 win over the Lakers, the postgame handshakes and hugs were taking place, and then this little confrontation happened between the Lakers’ Jarred Vanderbilt and the Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan.
De’Aaron Fox was the first to step between the players and try to de-escalate the situation, with Luka Dončić not far behind. The Spurs’ Julian Champagnie pushed Vanderbilt during the little incident.
After the game, Sochan played down the incident when speaking to reporters, [via Michael C. Wright of ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47547923/spurs-sochan-downplays-confrontation-lakers-vanderbilt).
_“I must’ve said something to him during the game, and maybe it wasn’t very nice,” Sochan said. “He must have taken it in the wrong way and told me to see him after the game. So, I did. And we just had a polite exchange. I was, I think, intact and very joyful and the other person wasn’t. Yeah, he just wasn’t emotionally stable in that moment. So, it’s something he has to work on. It’s just life.”_
Vanderbilt and Sochan have a history, both were ejected from a game last season after a confrontation. In the fourth quarter of a March meeting, Sochan drove to the basket and Vanderbilt was called for elbowing Sochan on the drive. After the whistle, Vanderbilt gave Sochan a push, and Sochan responded by tossing the ball at Vanderbilt. That’s when Vanderbilt came in with a hard shove and it was on, the two had to be broken up.
That energy carried over to Wednesday night, when Sochan suggested the two men had words during the game. The league may hand out fines for all this.
The two teams meet one more time this season, Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.
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