Kings’ Metu has ‘no hate in my heart’ for Valanciunas despite broken wrist

Kings center Chimezie Metu suffered a broken wrist earlier this season when he was slammed to the floor on what coach Luke Walton described as a “dangerous” and “dirty” play by Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas.

Metu was sidelined for six long weeks, an eternity for a young player on a two-way contract. The injury caused him to miss 17 games and untold opportunities, but despite the circumstances, Metu says he harbors “no hate” for Valanciunas.

“It was frustrating,” Metu said. “It is frustrating looking back on it at times because who knows what could have happened in those six weeks for myself and what that could have meant for my career or for the team, for the team’s success. So it’s tough. It’s still tough. It’s tough looking back at it. It was tough in the moment, but I hold no hate in my heart for Valanciunas.”

Valanciunas took exception when Metu dunked on him late in the fourth quarter of the Grizzlies’ 124110 victory over the Kings on Feb. 14 at Golden 1 Center. As Metu hung from the rim with Valanciunas standing beneath him and nowhere to land safely, Valanciunas pulled him down by his left leg, causing Metu to crash to the floor in a vulnerable position.

Metu put his hand down to break his fall, but be broke his wrist instead. Metu remained in the game and didn’t realize he was seriously injured until X-rays taken the following day revealed a fracture in his right wrist.

Metu, a 24-year-old center who came out of USC as the 49th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, would not suit up again until March 24. He has since returned to appear in 13 of the last 14 games.

“It was a tough six weeks,” Metu said. “I was sad. I was angry. But right now I think I’m at peace with where I’m at and what’s happened and how things have worked out. Obviously, that’s in the past and I can’t go back and change anything or whatever, but I’m at peace. I’m just glad everything worked out and I’m still here on the team with the Kings and still getting an opportunity to play.”

Metu also addressed the criticism his teammates faced for not stepping in to confront Valanciunas. At that time, even Walton went so far as to say “we’ve got to be able to stand up for ourselves.”

“I know a lot of people were kind of getting on guys about not clearing the bench or whatever,” Metu said. “Obviously in this day and age, in this league, you can’t do that anymore, but I know they have my back.”

The Kings and Grizzlies will play each other twice more this season. They will face off in a back-to-back set May 13-14 at FedEdForum in Memphis.

Metu said he appreciated the support he received during his recovery from everyone in the Kings organization, from players and coaches to front office executives.

“It kind of gave me a sense of, like, I guess satisfaction or whatever knowing I had the support of my teammates and from the front office and the medical staff and things like that,” Metu said. “It made it a lot easier to just go out there and continue to support my teammates, continue to do what I could from the bench as far as cheering them on.”