Sacramento Kings rookie Nik Stauskas said he was surprised at the reaction to his comments following a preseason loss.
Following Sunday night's loss to the Toronto Raptors, the former Michigan star made a statement to the media that has rubbed some folks the wrong way.
"I understand that I'm a rookie and I'm white, so people are going to attack me at all times," he said. "Just coming out there in the game, I felt it right away."
Following Tuesday night's game, also against the Raptors, Stauskas tried to provide clarity for his words, but at the same time, he didn't back down from them.
"I was very surprised," Stauskas told Cowbell Kingdom. "People kind of took it too far with what I was trying to say. I wasn't trying to get anyone to feel sorry for me. I wasn't trying to be controversial or anything like that. I was just trying to keep it real."
"As a rookie in the NBA, you're going to get attacked on the court, you see that tonight," Stauskas continued. "People make a point to go at me. It has a lot to do with reputation and kind of stereotypes of what your game is. For me, I look at my reputation, people look at me and obviously, I'm not the best defender in the world, so people are going to make a point to go at me and try to attack me as much as they can. That's really what I was trying to say."
Stauskas stressed that he did not intend to spark any controversy with his comments.
"I've said stuff like that before and I don't take that back, because I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm not trying to be controversial, I'm just saying that's just really how I feel," the rookie guard said.
"Some people may have a problem with it, some people may not, but if you've ever played the game of basketball, you understand that there's certain stereotypes and certain reputations that certain players have and based on that, people are going to play a certain way against you," Stauskas added.
The Kings drafted Stauskas with the No. 8 overall pick in this year's draft.
