Tensions were high when Draymond Green had to leave Game 2 of the Warriors-Grizzlies Western Conference semifinal to get stitches after getting elbowed in the eye by Xavier Tillman while both were going after a loose ball. As he walked off the floor and into the locker room, Green flipped off the Memphis fans who were booing him.
Afterward, Green minced no words about how he felt about Grizzlies fans, defiantly letting the media know that he would take the fine for detrimental conduct and make up the lost money through an appearance.
“If you’re going to boo somebody who’s getting hit in the eye, (his) face running down blood, you should get flipped off,” Green said. ” So, I’ll take the fine. I’ll go do an appearance and make up the money. But it felt really good to flip them off. I could’ve had a concussion or anything. So if they’re gonna be that nasty, I can be nasty too. I’m assuming the cheers was because they knew I’d get fined.”
“Great, I make $25 million a year; I should be just fine.”
On Wednesday, JJ Redick, who joined ESPN last year as an analyst after a 15-year playing career, defended Green to Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, who wasn’t the biggest fan of the Warriors’ big man choice to flip off the Memphis faithful in attendance who cheered as Green left to get stitches for his bloody eye.
“I want to take a little umbrage with this ‘shut up and play’ because that has the same sort of connotations that the ‘shut up and dribble’ crowd has towards athletes, and I have a real problem with that,” Redick sounded off. “Specifically with Draymond—the idea that America is tired of him. You do realize the guy has a very popular podcast where he hosts, and he talks, himself, for the majority of the episode, and people listen to that.”
Reddick continued: “He signed a talent deal with Turner [Sports] because people want to hear what Draymond has to say. The reason they want to hear what Draymond has to say is because—just like in this press conference—he is real, authentic, and unfiltered. You can’t take away what makes a player great, so there’s no shut up and play.’”
JJ sent the clown back to the Circus! https://t.co/VtTaPFkqYh
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) May 4, 2022
Russo, meanwhile, insisted that this was “not a political scenario or race situation,” adding that he was just noting that Green is a “polarizing” figure and he is merely speaking for the millions of longtime basketball fans who agree with him about the multi-time NBA champ.
“I’m not saying it’s a race situation. I’m saying the fans you’re talking about, they talk about athletes that way like you just talked about an athlete,” Redick fired back. “The people on Fox News talk about athletes that way; that’s my issue.”
The former Duke star concluded: “I don’t actually care about the fans that watched Bob Cousy play or watched Wilt [Chamberlain] play. I don’t care! I appreciate they’ve been NBA fans that long, but I don’t appreciate the undertone.”
