Spurs' Jeremy Sochan, Rockets' Fred VanVleet engage in heated postgame moment
10/29/2024 03:45 PM
Immediately after the final buzzer sounded in the San Antonio Spurs 106-101 loss to the Houston Rockets Fred VanVleet confronted Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan and words were exchanged.
Fred Van VanVleet had some words for Jeremy Sochan after the gamepic.twitter.com/YFtOSWOCCU
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) October 29, 2024
Asked about the exchange after the game, the third-year San Antonio forward didn’t really answer.
“Nothing, nothing, I don’t know. It’s just being competitive so it is what it is in the end.”
When asked if he took the matter personally by Carolina Teague of Spurfect Blog, Sochan responded more definitively.
"Never that. They do though," he remarked with a grin.
The incident comes days after Sochan made an incendiary remark about the in-state foe. VanVleet famously criticized the Spurs Hall of Fame coach several years ago.
Fred VanVleet and Jeremy Sochan in the past
Monday’s contest in which the Spurs rallied from what was once a 21-point deficit marked a second straight game between the two Southwest Division foes.
Before Saturday’s tilt, Sochan was asked if his team is forming a rivalry with the Rockets, who also feature a young core. His response?
“F— Houston.”
The former Baylor standout scored 17 points that night, only trailing Victor Wembanyama’s game-high 29 (along with Houston’s Jalen Green). Sochan’s 12 rebounds were unmatched on either side in a 109-106 win that represented the Silver and Black’s first of the young season.
Monday he added 22 more to lead San Antonio, going 9-of-19 from the field after shooting 8-of-14 in the first outing against the franchise located a roughly two-and-a-half-hour drive down I-10 from the Alamo City.
For his part, VanVleet declined to comment about the post-game incident, but he did say that the Rockets don’t spend time thinking about Sochan according to Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
While VanVleet has become a consistent scorer in the NBA over the last several years, he made a name for himself league-wide during the 2019 Finals when he played very well for a Toronto Raptors squad that knocked off the hobbled two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors to the title.
During the subsequent celebratory parade, VanVleet said into what appeared to be a camera phone, “It wasn’t like this in SA, huh?”
VanVleet was referencing then-Toronto star Kawhi Leonard, who had famously forced his way out of San Antonio the summer before leading the Raptors to their first NBA championship.
“F— Pop,” the now 30-year-old guard said next. “I ain’t gonna do y’all dirty like that, but f— Pop.”
For their differences, there appears to be a common thread between VanVleet and Sochan.
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