Amundson calls Nene "dirty player''
By Chris Tomasson on March 24, 2009 · Comment · 
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Louis Amundson never before had seen a head butt in a basketball game. But he knows what happened in the 2006 World Cup.
With that in mind, the Phoenix forward said if anybody in the NBA knows about head butts, it would be Nuggets center Nene, who is from a soccer-rich nation.
“He’s from Brazil, so I’m sure he knows about soccer tactics like the head butt,’’ said Amundson, touching upon the infamous one France’s Zinedine Zidane threw at Italy’s Marco Materazzi, resulting in ejection from the 2006 World Cup final.
The head butt was on display in the NBA on Monday at US Airways Center. Nene threw one at Amundson in the fourth quarter of Denver’s 118-115 loss, which led to Amundson on Tuesday calling Nene a “dirty player’’ and a “fake, tough guy.’’
But the head butt apparently wasn’t why Nene was ejected. Shortly thereafter, Nene banged into Amundson’s chest. Then he threw an elbow, knocking Amundson to the floor with 7:25 left in the game, which earned Nene a flagrant foul 2, an automatic ejection.
It’s possible Nene, who went face to face with official Bill Spooner after being ejected, could be fined or suspended for Wednesday’s game at New Orleans. Spokesman Tim Frank said the NBA is still reviewing the incident, with no decision expected until Wednesday at the earliest. If Nene is suspended, it would have to be announced before Wednesday’s game.
On Tuesday, Amundson, a 2001 graduate of Louisville’s Monarch High School, spoke at length to InDenver Times about the incident.
“I’m playing hard and with a lot of energy, and Nene took exception to the fact that I was going to play physical back with him,’’ Amundson said. “I play hard, but he was playing dirty the whole game. He was elbowing me. … He was hitting me in the head and the neck.’’
Then, with the Nuggets leading 97-96, the 6-foot-9, 225-pound Amundson was guarding the 6-11, 250-pound Nene away from the ball. Nene went at Amundson with an apparently unprovoked head butt.
“I was surprised that he did that,’’ Amundson said. “But then I was not too surprised because I know he’s kind of a dirty player.’’
What really surprised Amundson is nothing was immediately called after the head butt. That’s why he admits he threw some acting into it when Nene came with the elbow.
“He head butted me, and I guess they didn’t see that,’’ Amundson said. “So when he hit me, and I went to the ground, it was a little bit of a flop. But after the head butt, I figured that was the only way to draw attention to what was going on.’’
Even though Amundson is from the Denver area, where his family continues to live, he said he never has met Nene socially. As for Nene on the court, Amundson has formed an opinion.
“I think he’s a fake, tough guy,’’ said Amundson, a three-year veteran from UNLV. “He’s going to pick on me. I’m just playing hard, and he’s going to head butt me and do dirty stuff to me.’’
Asked if he believes Nene should be suspended, Amundson said, “It’s not up to me.’’
“We just got to be more emotionally mature,’’ Nuggets coach George Karl said to reporters after the game about the incident. “We have an emotional team, and we’ve talked about it. It just seems like we have some guys, some reasons, something will happen almost on a weekly basis. … Amundson did a good job of getting under Nene’s skin. He tried to do it. You could see him doing it. (Nene) just got to understand what’s going on and not hurt us by not being on the court.’’
According to Nuggets publicist Eric Sebastian, Nene on Tuesday had no comment.
This isn’t the first scrap Amundson has been in this season. Clippers forward Zach Randolph was ejected last month and suspended for two gams for throwing a punch at Amundson.
“These soft, tough guys, you don’t back down from them,’’ Amundson said of the incidents involving Randolph and Nene.
Amundson is averaging just 4.1 points in 13.1 minutes this season. He was undrafted in 2006 and has come out of nowhere to be a rotation NBA player, which is one reason he believes he gets under the skin of established players.
“I think that comes into the respect factor,’’ said Amundson, who at least has achieved some NBA recognition because of his long hair, which he puts in a pony tail. “A lot of guys, they don’t know my game. They’ve just got to understand that I play extremely relentless and I’m physical all the time. … (Opposing players) are going to throw their weight around, but they’re not used to guys who aren’t going to back down.’’
As for Amundson, he’s not used to being head butted.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com
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Sounds like he needs to get a life. You play hard and rough, you get it back. Instead of whining about it, man up and play harder.
Nene is like the nicest dude in the world. Maybe he’s not the problem and it’s Amundson, who seems to have a knack for finding trouble.
Please, I saw this flop coming two plays before it happened. The only fake one is the imitation Shaq.
Typical Nuggets responses. I think LOU was “manning up and playing harder.” Did you read the story at all? Evidently, Nene “manned up” in the wrong way. We love LOOOUUUUUU! Get over the fact he got into Nene’s head. It’s his job!
Nene should’ve been tossed the play before when he grabbed Amundson by the throat when he wasn’t looking and threw him to the ground backwards, but the refs didn’t see that either.
Playing hard and rough isn’t the same as playing dirty….grow up.
Nuggets fans can say what they want, but they LOVE Louis Amundson…..only their Louis Amundson is named Chris Andersen….Andersen’s got better numbers now, but when Andersen was at Lou’s point of his career…the numbers were scary similar.
In the end, guys like Chris Andersen, David Lee, Lou Amundson, etc….just get under people’s skin because those guys hustle every play, contest every shot, box out on every rebound, etc.. and etc… none of them has a refined offensive game, so they do everything else….and Nuggets fans love guys like Amundson….which is why they love Andersen
Amundson is the man!
Nene is a dirty piece of feces
Lou plays his butt off if he doesnt he will be out of the league.He has come out of nowwhere to earn some dough and be an example of how all should hustle.It is reverse discrimination as the brothers hate some white boy hustling on them.That is why you always see these type of guys getting fights picked with them.Im a sixers fan and watched LOU at UNLV here in vegas.I hated the sixers giving up on him.Keep up the good work.Respect the man his hustle will keep him in the leaugue.Nene and Randolph 2 of the most overpayed guys in the league.Nene is half the man he used to be.
Listen, eveything Lou said is true. Not about Nene necessarily being a dirty player but that these guys have sense of entitlement and when some no-name comes along and can play them straight up or throw off their game they show how mature they really are.
And. it’s OK to play a little dirty Jordan, Bird, Charles…all did, and I’m sure Amundson does it too. But when you try to injure another player-that makes you a b*tch a** punk who nobody respects. I’m sure Nene feels stupid for doing that, he’s not that guy.
I think Lou Amundson is a racist or something. I watched both incidents and they seem completely unprovoked and out of nowhere. That is what concerns me. Zach Randolph has never done that type of thing before. If you watch the film it seems like a pretty normal scene until Randolph just flips. Now the same thing with Nene? Yeah right.. There is something else going on here to make two seemingly smart and clean players flip like that. I bet he called them a racist name or said something really bad to make them react so irrationally. Otherwise why would two professional NBA players, with lots of money on the line, do something so blatantly reactionary? It is certainly not just because they “cannot handle being a physical player back at them” or whatever BS Amundson was trying to sell us.
As of now, I am going to keep a good eye on Racist Lou over here and if I were his teammates, I would do the same.
Zapp you’re kidding right. Did you just refer to Zach “I punched Ruben Patterson in the face” Randolph a smart and clean player? I can’t speak for Nene but Zach Randolph has a history of these types of incidents, the only difference is they usually involve his own teamamtes.
Zapp, I was curious reading what you were saying because of the way Amundson said “He’s from Brazil, so I’m sure he knows about soccer tactics like the head butt,” which, is only arguably politically incorrect. But then I read the rest of your comment.
Yeaaaaaah. No. I strongly disagree.
Also: see what Marlo said–Randolph is a psychopath. And Nene’s done other pushing and shoving. He’s a very emotional player. Not crazy like Randolph though.
Amundson is the man he never backs down and he plays hard. if nene and randolph couldn’t handle the way amundson was defending they shouldn’t be in the nba and zapp what the hell does race have to do with this its all about men who can’t handle a tough defender