FOSHAN, CHINA - Serbia coach Sasa Dordevic went on a long rant on Monday night accusing Paul Lee of intentionally hurting one of his players late in Gilas Pilipinas' 126-67 blowout loss in the 2019 Fiba World Cup.
Lee needed just one line to strike back.
"Nag-flop lang naman s'ya ng sobra, eh," the Magnolia hotshot said when asked about the incident with Serbia guard Marcu Guduric which so angered coach Sasa Dordevic that he downright accused Lee of playing dirty.
The Tondo-born Lee, who never cut a reputation as a dirty player at any point in his basketball career back home, collided with Guduric right infront of the Serbian bench while trying to press, sending the Serbian crashing to the floor.
The Filipino was slapped an unsportsmanlike foul after a television review but national coach Yeng Guiao was the first to leap to his defense.
"It was a bump," Guiao said. "If he wanted to hurt somebody, that's not the only thing that he can do."
Lee insisted the contact wasn't as hard as Gudiric's fall reflected. And more importantly, the PBA star swore there was no intention to hurt.
"Binantayan ko lang naman siya," Lee said. Yeah, actually, parang nagka-bangga talaga kami. Bumagsak sya ng ganun. Hindi naman ganun kalakas yung bangga ko sa kanya. Parang blinock ko lang yung way nya.
"Saka hindi naman ako ganun kabigat, kumpara sa kanya. Hindi naman ako ganun kalakas tumulak, saka hindi ko sinadya," he added.
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