Draymond Green is offering a very ironic criticism this week.
On the latest episode of his self-titled podcast for The Volume, the Golden State Warriors star Green called out Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis for being unsportsmanlike. Green said that Sabonis refused to shake hands with him following the conclusion of their playoff series.
“[I] lost a lot of respect for Sabonis,” said Green. “You don’t shake guys’ hands after you lose? I don’t respect that. I once left the court when we lost in Game 7 [of the 2016 Finals] to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and I went to my locker room, and I said, ‘This don’t feel right.’ And I walked back out onto the court, and I showed everybody love.
“You lost, deal with it,” Green added of Sabonis. “Pay your respect. That was wack to me. That’s wack … I don’t respect that, and that’s wack.”
Here is the full clip of Green’s comments.
"Lost a lot of respect for Sabonis. You don't shake guys hands after you lose? I don't respect that… You lost, deal with it. Pay your respect."
— Draymond Green
(via @TheVolumeSports)pic.twitter.com/34OfVkYOkd
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 1, 2023
Green and the Warriors defeated Sabonis and the Kings in Game 7 of their first-round series on Sunday to end Sacramento’s season. Most of the Kings players (including De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk) were seen shaking hands with the Warriors after the final buzzer. Even one of Green’s former enemies on the Kings seemed to make peace with him following the game.
Sportsmanship is of paramount importance and should always be observed upon the conclusion of a game or series. But at the same time, you can see a little bit of where Sabonis is coming from since he may very well still have a footprint-shaped bruise on his sternum from where Green stomped on him earlier in the series. Green also pulled other questionable moves throughout the seven-game showdown, and Sabonis clearly wasn’t interested in playing nice with him afterwards.
