Two NBA players got into an ugly fight during international play.
During France’s 90-66 win in a friendly against Germany on Saturday, Evan Fournier and Dennis Schroder had to be separated after a violent altercation in Cologne.
Schroder demonstratively approached Fournier after the latter fouled him, putting his hands on Fournier’s shoulder area.
Fournier, a polarizing ex-Knick, then choked Schroder with both hands before teammates and referees separated them.
Fournier was subsequently ejected.
The two players did appear to speak and make up on the court, however.
Fournier, 31, remains a free agent.
He played two-plus seasons with the Knicks but fell out of head coach Tom Thibodeau’s rotation following his first season with the team.
He was part of the package, along with Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn, Ryan Arcidiacono and two second-round picks, that the Knicks sent to the Pistons last year in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks.
Fournier didn’t look back fondly on his time in New York.
“I’m really excited to be out of New York, so looking forward to new opportunities,” Fournier said after the trade in February.
Prior to last season, Forunier expressed that he felt like he was being “held hostage” by the team.
“I’m still in New York at the moment,” Fournier said at the time. “I want to leave. But beyond leaving, I want to have the opportunity to get some playing time back. That’s all. That’s mostly it. Because in New York, I feel extremely good. I love living there, I love the franchise, I love playing at Madison [Square Garden], I love the guys on the team.
“So I just want to play, that’s all. It’s true that finding another club, changing franchises, if that’s what you have to do to play again, that’s what I would like to do.”
Schroder, 30, is set to enter his second season with the Nets.
The Nets acquired him, along with Thaddeus Young, last year in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie.
After arriving in Brooklyn, Schroder averaged 14.6 points and 6.0 assists per game in 29 games with the team.
