During the Olympics, Nicolas Batum gained international fame by hitting Juan Carlos Navarro in the... well, see, he hit him down... uh... well, this: 

Afterwards, amid the outrage, Batum apologized profusely. But in an interview with our own Ben Golliver writing for BlazersEdge.com, spoke to Batum who revealed that not everyone was uspet with his actions: 

"I got some bad things, trust me. [But] people all around the world, on Twitter, or media, or people, even coaches and players from the other teams, thanked me."

Why? For upholding the Olympics spirit? For getting in a good lick on Navarro? Because Spain had it coming?

"I won't say what they told me, but trust me a lot of people thanked me," he repeated. "I won't say, but they just thanked me. Trust me, a lot, a lot of people. Not especially from France but from everywhere. I won't say that's good. I'm not happy or glad about it."

Another key clarification: Batum claimed that he was not specifically aiming for Navarro's privates.

"Of course, you have to understand, I didn't want to punch him here," he said. "I'm not like that. I'm not like that, come on. I tried to get his arm. I was looking for his arm, not his..."

via Nicolas Batum: "A Lot Of People Thanked Me" For Gruesome Groin Shot On Juan Carlos Navarro - Blazer's Edge.

OK, first off, look at that GIF above and tell me he wasn't aiming for Navarro's sensitive parts. If you can look me in the eye and tell me that, well, you've got a better eye for intent than I do. 

It's kind of amazing the stance Batum is taking on this, which is essentially: "I'm really sorry I did it even though everyone was really glad I did it. You only live once." 

Batum has never been known as a dirty player, and he won't have such a rep becuase of this. It just shows how personal the Olympics were for everyone involved. A lot of those games were very physical and involved a lot of shoving and extra-curricular activity. Batum's just happened to be particularly vicious. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go try and remove the mental image of that happening from my brain.