Young NBA hopeful’s unfortunate end to a celebratory victory

The USA U-17 team became FIBA World Cup champions on Sunday when they beat Spain at the Martín Carpena in Málaga, Spain 79-67. Unfortunately, the celebration was tainted a bit by what happened just before the end of the game.

The under 17 was showing, when US player Ron Holland caused an unnecessary scene. With the US in a huge lead, Spain decided not to play the last possession, though there were still 15 seconds left in the game. It seems Holland didn’t like that, and he started to heckle Spanish player Abel Delicado. Delicado’s teammate Álvaro Flgueiras came to his side and Holland faked an attack, falling down dramatically to the floor. You could hear the disappointment in the voices of the American and Spanish announcers alike. “Something happened to this guy, Ron Holland - he keeps putting on the pressure when we’re not attacking... what a way to taint the end of the final,” said one Spanish commentator.

It seemed like Holland wanted to start a brawl, which is completely unnecessary, especially after a huge win like this. Once the players were separated, the Americans started to run down the court and celebrate. The USA took home the gold, but the behavior and lack of good sportsmanship of one player unfortunately gave the team a bad image.