Liz Cambage slams Opals teammate Alice Kunek for painting her face brown

ONE of Liz Cambage’s teammates so enraged the basketballer that she just had to speak out over what she called a “disgusting” act.

BASKETBALL star Liz Cambage has slammed fellow Opal Alice Kunek for featuring in a photograph with her face painted brown.

Kunek, 25, posted a picture of herself on Instagram on Sunday, dressed up in ripped white clothes, a beanie and painted face alongside her Melbourne Boomers teammate Tess Madgen, who was also in fancy dress.

Cambage, whose father is Nigerian, put national squad unity aside to blast Kunek’s behaviour in a series of tweets.

I'm am so shocked and disturbed to see this behavior from someone I'm meant to call a "teammate" pic.twitter.com/Rz9Hp33oCs

— Elizabeth Cambage (@ecambage) February 21, 2016

blackface is disgusting, I honestly have no words.

— Elizabeth Cambage (@ecambage) February 21, 2016

People wonder why I have issues with some @BasketballAus teammates, I've been dealing with these behavior since we were kids

— Elizabeth Cambage (@ecambage) February 21, 2016

For her part, Kunek delivered an apology within an hour of Cambage’s missive.

“I am so unbelievably sorry to all my followers who were offended by my previous post. It was never my intention to offend anyone at all. It was an honest mistake,” Kunek posted on Instagram.

She also took to Twitter to continue her apology.

2/4 People who know me, know that I don't judge others based on the colour of their skin.

— Alice Kunek (@AliceKunek) February 21, 2016

3/4 One of the things I love most about basketball is that I get to play with and against women from different countries ,

— Alice Kunek (@AliceKunek) February 21, 2016

4/4 religions & upbringings and be united as a team. I never meant to offend any team mates, fans, or people in the community.

— Alice Kunek (@AliceKunek) February 21, 2016

Blackface is considered a relic of last-century minstrel shows, which featured unfortunate lampooning of black Americans.

The act of wearing blackface is regarded by many as highly offensive.

It’s not the first time Cambage, 24, has attacked members of the national team on social media.

In July last year, Cambage was dropped for the Opals’ Olympic Games qualifiers after working at the Splendour In The Grass music festival over a training camp.

Fellow Opal Rachel Jarry criticised the centre’s decision.

Cambage responded on Facebook by calling a characterisation of the pair as good friends as a “sick joke”.

She later deleted that post.

Kunek also deleted her initial post, replacing it with a similar picture without the face paint.