Draymond Green's Latest Musings On Rudy Gobert Being Soft, Dillon Brooks, And The Warriors' Title Chances Are Well Worth Your Time
Maybe it's because he's played in smaller markets his entire NBA career, but the main events I remember Rudy Gobert for have nothing to do with begin a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. They are instead as follows: Spreading his COVID germs to a bunch of media members, being the centerpiece of one of the worst trades in basketball history, and now, punching Kyle Anderson.
Draymond Green had a little bit of fun with the latter occurrence during his latest podcast on The Volume. As you can see from the tweets above, Draymond called back to a tweet Gobert made from several months back. Gobert's dig came after Draymond sucker-punched Jordan Poole in the face during a Warriors practice.
Quite a different thing for Gobert to do this in a game with actual playoff stakes as opposed to an offseason setting. I'm not excusing what Draymond did at all, but man, how much of a fucking punk must Jordan Poole be to get under the skin of somebody like Draymond?
But anyway, you see the main takeaway in the caption. Anderson called Gobert a bitch. Draymond definitely didn't disagree with that label, and even dished Gobert a backhanded compliment for "standing up for himself" in that situation. Didn't know the Frenchman had it in him. That's some next-level trolling.
Even the most casual NBA fans know Draymond hates Dillon Brooks — and rightfully so. This dates back to last year's playoffs, when Brooks was talking trash during the Grizzlies-Warriors conference semifinals series, which Golden State won 4-2.
Draymond was talking to Utah Jazz breakout star Lauri Markkanen in this instance, complimenting him and shooting off a stray at Brooks because he just couldn't help himself.
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I love that a guy with Brooks' shitty resume who's shooting 39.6% from the field this season has the audacity to bark back so often at Draymond. There is literally no upside to doing that.
I mean look at this stat alone, and tell me Brooks shouldn't shut the fuck up.
Plus, the fact that the young, naïve Grizzlies have a certified knucklehead as their face of the franchise in Ja Morant doesn't bode well for their long-term viability. The whole Icarus flying too close to the sun situation playing out in real time on the hardwood.
…And that perfectly tees up the final point about Draymond here, as he reveals some new merch that reads, "DON'T LET US WIN ANOTHER F*CKING CHAMPIONSHIP".
The Western Conference is so damn wide-open. Perhaps the most it's ever been. Thus, if there were ever a time when it didn't mean shit that the defending champs won only 11 road games all season, it'd be now. They're facing a totally unproven Kings team in the first round of the playoffs. Assuming they get past Sacramento, the Dubs would move on to either a rematch with Memphis, or square off with LeBron, AD, and the Lakers, who've overhauled their roster very recently.
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Ideally, Golden State would have a higher seed than No. 6, because that'll mean not having home-court advantage in just about any series scenario they encounter. Good news is no one has anywhere near the championship pedigree of Steph, Klay and Dray. The Warriors also get a huge boost with Andrew Wiggins returning from a lengthy hiatus. If Wiggins is ready to roll, the Dubs will be as dangerous as anyone.
Draymond always came across to me as an annoying blowhard. Gotta say, ever since he started this podcast, I couldn't help but respect him more. He even went on during the Warriors' title run last year to talk about how shitty he played right in the middle of the NBA Finals. Now he just keeps growing on me — and continues to be a pain in the ass for anyone who lines up against him.
Suspend me in animation till this play-in is finished. I'm so ready to see how the West shakes out, not to mention all the offseason drama revolving around Gobert and the Wolves/Brooks and the Grizzlies when both are inevitably eliminated.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok