Deni Avdija had a turbulent outing in the Portland Trail Blazers' playoff first-round loss to the San Antonio Spurs, 93–114. He fouled out of the game, was involved in a shoving exchange with Spurs guard Stephon Castle, and clashed with referees over several calls he disagreed with.
One play in particular frustrated the Israeli All-Star. During a defensive sequence, Avdija attempted to block Spurs guard Dylan Harper as he drove to the basket. A foul was whistled against Avdija, and he quickly made his displeasure with the call known.
Stephon Castle and Deni Avdija received double techs for this sequence at the end of Spurs-Blazers Game 4. pic.twitter.com/IJx90QJlhp
— ESPN (@espn) April 26, 2026
ESPN analyst Doris Burke was not impressed. She went after Avdija on air, saying, "Stop it, Deni, with the pleading you do at times for the whistle… he is notorious for complaining about contact."
Moments later, the replay of the play arrived – and it clearly showed that Avdija had not touched Harper at all while the San Antonio guard was attempting his shot. "Wow, I think they may challenge this?" Burke said, without offering an apology for the accusation she had leveled at the Portland star.
After the game, Avdija spoke with reporters about the incident with Castle. "I have a lot of respect for him, but the thing at the end with shoving the ball in my chest is unnecessary," he said. "I don't play those games. That's not who I am. You can be physical, but there's a level of disrespect I'm not going to accept. He's done a lot of provocation throughout the whole game. At one point, it was just disrespectful."
