Draymond Green is no stranger to borderline dirty antics and beefing with other basketball players and personalities. Recently the Golden State Warriors star was involved in another instance of flexing his superiority and success while putting down others, and in this case maybe taking things a little too far away from the court and the topic of basketball.
After the Series-clinching win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, the Warriors advanced to the Western Conference Finals. Many looked at the win as Golden State reinstating their dynasty after it was put on pause for a while following injuries to Kevin Durant. After the game, Draymond had a few choice words for ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins, who had criticized what he characterized as Draymond’s inability to make shots and have a scoring mentality.
“Matter of fact, can somebody tell Draymond Green it’s OK to look at the basket and actually shoot a shot?” Perkins said to hosts Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim on “First Take” on Friday morning. “I mean, because he’s afraid. I mean, I’m sitting up here seeing all the turnovers. He doesn’t even look at the basket”
“He’s afraid of taking the shot right now. So some of those assists he’s getting to Steph Curry, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson, I could go out there and get those same assists. They wide open. Ain’t nothing but a pass. So don’t let Draymond Green sit up here and fool you like everything that comes out his mouth is the gospel,”
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If Perk was trying to help the Warriors win, he did a great job at fueling the fire inside Draymond Green, as he finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists in Friday night’s 110-96 series clincher over the Grizzlies. After Draymond had a very solid game (by his standards) he was more than ready to speak to the media at the postgame press conference.
He addressed the team and how well they performed, but also shot back at Big Perk for his comments prior to the game. Dray didn’t hold back and some would even say he crossed a line.
“Something came to my phone earlier,” Green said to reporters. “Some guy saying I’m scared to shoot the basketball. Scared and me in the same sentence is brutal. But you got a big ogre on TV talking about what Draymond says ain’t the gospel. It is the gospel. What I say is the gospel. When you say that multiple times on several different segments, you must think what I say is the gospel. So, you got to come out and shut some guys up sometimes. When you got people talking out the side of their neck. ‘Anybody can make the pass Draymond make.’ That’s just stupid,” Draymond said.
Draymond clapped back at Kendrick Perkins for some of his recent comments 👀 pic.twitter.com/7tFcjP69fy
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 14, 2022
Draymond continued by breaking down what Perkins said about his playing style, clearly offended that Perkins implied that he was ineffective on the offensive end.
“But these are people who get employed to talk on TV about our game. ‘Anybody could make that pass.’ You make that pass. We’d love to see it. I played against the guy by the way. I’m talking about Kendrick Perkins for those of y’all that don’t know. I’m never duckin’ no smoke. As the Memphis Grizzlies’ towels say, I don’t duck smoke. ‘Anybody could make that pass.’ You couldn’t, so good luck. You just got to come out and shut people up sometimes. It was very fun to do,” Draymond continued.
Attacking a man and calling him an ogre on live television is hysterical, and maybe a bit personal. Criticizing a man’s physical appearance because you don’t like what he said about your subpar play is kind of juvenile. If anyone else went on such a rant, they’d be criticized for crossing the line, but this is Draymond Green we’re talking about. He has a healthy track record of insulting and belittling other players and analysts. Plus, he already has an outstanding beef with Kendrick Perkins that spans back to his playing days.
Shortly after that post game conference, the “Ogre” took to social media to respond to Green’s comments.
Carry the hell on…. pic.twitter.com/XB5qv8YIJU
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) May 14, 2022
Draymond in response to Perk’s response took to social media himself, posting on his instagram story.
Draymond had more words for Perk 😮
[via @Money23Green / IG] pic.twitter.com/a4NnzCEgcJ
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 14, 2022
One constant in sports that will never end is two or more grown men going at it using very childish tactics, tossing insults like teenagers and trying to one up each other. It’s the nature of sports debates and increasingly sports culture. Maybe this kind of banter is the perk that being the centerpiece of a billion-dollar business and making tons of money off of your talent.
Draymond took the low road, and delivered a low blow to Perkins, and this is his specialty. It’s hard to tell when Green is being serious or just searching for some inspiration or a psychological edge.
In this instance, he fed into the beef and used it to inspire his play on the court. Fortunately for Draymond, this drama is happening at the perfect time as the Warriors will either be facing the Phoenix Suns or Dallas Mavericks in a few days for the chance at a return to the NBA Finals.
Either way, both of these guys are great at selling wolf tickets, and the drama adds more soap opera excitement to the NBA playoffs. And one day, we will probably see both of these guys going at it on ESPN daily.
