Goran Dragic on Suns comments: 'I feel bad...I didn't mean it like that'
Goran Dragic's falling out with the Phoenix Suns came to a head when the All-NBA guard asked for a trade before publicly commenting that he no longer trusted the team's front office.
Dragic, whose wish was granted when he was shipped to the Miami Heat at the trade deadline, now sounds regretful about some of those comments.
"When I now look back on what I said about the Suns before the trade, I feel bad, because it came out a little too harsh," Dragic told Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling. "I didn't mean it like that, but it happened in that moment, so I cannot go back and change it. I just said what I was thinking."
"I'm an honest guy and I had never said something bad about that organization," Dragic added. "They were always great to me. They were like family, so I didn't mean that. But at the same time, I thought that the situation was not good anymore for me, so that's why it came out like that."
Dragic, who spent parts of six of his seven NBA seasons in Phoenix over two different stints with the Suns, saw his touches and usage dip in this his contract year due to a crowded back court that included Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas.
With time to reflect, Dragic has since apologized to Suns owner Robert Sarver.
"We had a good conversation ... He knew that I was not going to re-sign with them, so I wanted to do something before the trade deadline and hopefully they could get some players or some picks. I really appreciated what he did - trading me," Dragic said.
The Suns, who also shipped Thomas out of town and acquired Brandon Knight from the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, are 2.5 games behind eighth-place Oklahoma City in the Western Conference.
Dragic's Heat, meanwhile, are staying afloat without Chris Bosh in the inferior Eastern Conference, holding onto the seventh spot with a record of 27-33.
Dragic is averaging 15.9 points, 4.9 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals on 51 percent shooting in seven games with Miami, with the Heat going 4-3 during that time.