Townsville Crocodiles captain Brian Conklin insists there's no bad blood between himself and Damian Martin, saying the Wildcats NBL guard has forgiven him for breaking his jaw.
Martin is set to spend up to three months on the sidelines after copping a sickening elbow from Conklin on Wednesday night.
Conklin was cleared of any wrongdoing by the NBL tribunal over the incident, and Wildcats fans booed him relentlessly during Townsville's 85-77 loss at Perth Arena on Friday night.
After the match, Conklin revealed he had contacted Martin on Thursday morning to let him know how sorry he was over the incident.
Martin says he holds no hard feelings towards Conklin, with the duo keen to put the incident behind them.
"There was no malice in it," Conklin said.
"We all have families back at home. I'd never want to put someone out.
"I contacted him because it's the type of person I am.
"His response was that everything that happens on the court, stays on the court. As far as he's concerned, it's an accident."
Conklin was criticised for not checking on Martin's welfare straight after the elbow incident.
But he claimed he didn't realise how serious it was until he saw Martin on the bench afterwards.
"I didn't know who I hit. I didn't know the extent of the injury," Conklin said.
"When I realised the extent of the injury, I approached him while he was walking off court to say, 'I hope you're ok, I'm sorry'."
NBL great Andrew Gaze had urged the league's tribunal to ban Conklin for at least six games over the hit.
Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson said he was disappointed Conklin got off scot free.
"I don't think he maliciously tried to break his jaw. But I think there was some recklessness in there," Gleeson said.
"You've got to protect the head. You don't want to see that in sport.
"Rugby and AFL have come a long way, and hopefully basketball can match that.
"But the milk's spilt. There's no use crying over it now.
"You guys got a couple of stories for a few days, and now we move on."
Crocodiles coach Shawn Dennis and Gleeson became engaged in a war of words with each other after Wednesday's game, which Townsville won by 12 points.
But the pair had cooled off by Friday's re-match.
"It was tit for tat. Both sides were wrong in saying some of the things they said," Dennis said.
"That's what happens with emotions."
Gleeson said he was proud of his players for resisting the urge to exact revenge on Conklin in Friday night's grudge match.
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