Draymond Green fires back at Karl-Anthony Towns over Westbrook criticism

Western Conference: Civil War appears to be officially upon us.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns caused a stir this week with comments about L.A. Lakers guard Russell Westbrook. Towns said that he thinks Westbrook chases statistics and explained his reasoning why.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green did not take too kindly to Towns’ opinion. Commenting on an Instagram video of Towns’ remarks, Green essentially called Towns a hypocrite.

“I once watched from the bench due to us beating the Twolves a– (profanity edited by LBS) and he was in the game down 20 with 2 mins to go,” Green said of Towns. “Come on man. Stop talking to people about the ‘bros’ and yelling this is a ‘brotherhood’. SMH.”

The argument could indeed be made that Towns himself is a “good stats, bad team” guy. He has averaged 23.0 points and 11.4 rebounds per game but has only ever made the playoffs once (losing in the first round in 2018). But Minnesota’s losing ways seem to be more tied to organizational dysfunction than to Towns.

In any case, Green is casting doubt here on the credibility of the speaker. But that alone does not make Towns’ criticism of Westbrook any less valid. In fact, Towns is far from the only NBA player who believes that Westbrook pads his numbers.

Photo: Feb 20, 2020; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) stands on the court before the game against the Houston Rockets at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports