ESPN.com · Dec 2, 2025
How Danilo Gallinari found 'the feeling a player wants at least once'
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Back in June, between Games 2 and 3 of the NBA Finals, former All-Star DeMarcus Cousins made national news when he was ejected from a game in the Puerto Rico league after an altercation with fans. The scuffle, captured in cellphone videos that quickly went viral, landed Cousins a suspension for the remainder of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional season.
But another longtime NBA player was standing just a few feet away as the chaos unfolded: 16-year veteran and onetime No. 6 pick Danilo Gallinari.
And, while sitting at his kitchen table in South Florida last week, Gallinari -- with a sheepish grin -- admitted something that few watching those videos would notice:
He started it.