John Collins provides explanation after a heated scuffle with Bulls assistant coach: “I just protected myself”

The Salt Lake City star John Collins and the Jazz took on the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night, where Collins recorded a 25-point double-double, However, despite the impressive performance, they fell short of the victory.

During the final moments of the match, both teams got into an altercation and had heated words exchanged between the players and the staff, which escalated over time and made headlines.

John Collins and Chris Fleming involved in a heated brawl

With just nine seconds left in the game, Collin Sexton fouled Demar DeRozan while they were just one point behind. After that, Sexton got into an argument with Torrey Craig, who was on the bench. Players from both sides soon got involved, but things escalated further when John Collins and the Chicago Bulls’ assistant coach, Chris Fleming, got into it.

While standing between Collins and Craig, Fleming seemed to shove Collins, initiating contact, which made Collins lose it and shove the assistant coach. This led to a huge brawl between the Jazz and the Bulls, involving players from both sides.

This brawl led to a timely review, and the officials gave a technical foul to Craig and a double-technical to Fleming and Collins.

John Collins explains the reason behind the Bulls vs Jazz on-court scuffle

John Collins was lucky not to be ejected from the game. However, the Jazz ended up losing the match with a point differential of just 2. In the post-game interview, Collins shared his side of the story, saying that he was just protecting himself.

“I’m standing there, and the coach comes over and just shoves me for no reason. Y’all can go watch the film, and I just protected myself. Literally, just standing there. Dude just puts a forearm in my chest and is pushing me back. So I don’t know, he needs some more self-control; it’s whatever. I don’t know what to say about that. That was weird,” Collins said to the media.

The wild ending to the regulation and the Bulls getting a victory have kept alive their hopes of making the playoffs. With a record of 30-32, the Bulls are clinging on to the 9th seed, while the Jazz are nearing another disappointing end to the regular season.