Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green has gone from dissing NBA teams to dissing national teams.
Team USA lost their longtime hold on the No. 1 spot in the FIBA world rankings for men’s basketball this week. Though Team USA had occupied the top spot since the rankings were first created nearly two decades ago, Team Spain took over the No. 1 ranking after their victory at EuroBasket 2022 over the summer.
🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚:
Spain seize the #1 spot for the first time in FIBA Men’s World Ranking history! 👑 🇪🇸
📊 See the full rankings here, presented by @Nike:https://t.co/iPTz2JGlZ8 pic.twitter.com/yea77qbAgV
— FIBA Basketball (@FIBA) November 18, 2022
The official FIBA EuroBasket Twitter account shouted out Spain for their accomplishment with a tweet that read, “When you realize you dethroned USA from the World Ranking for the first time ever.”
When you realize you dethroned USA from the World Ranking for the first time ever: pic.twitter.com/dG36KXtMGx
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) November 18, 2022
That did not sit right with Green, who threw shade at Team Spain and the suggestion that they had knocked Team USA off their perch.
“Dethroned? Stop it,” wrote Green along with several laughing-face emojis.
Draymond’s reaction to Spain passing Team USA in the FIBA men’s basketball world rankings pic.twitter.com/bpqfEj6J1n
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) November 20, 2022
For context, Team USA is coming off a patchy showing of their own at the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup, finishing in third place behind Argentina and Brazil (albeit with a roster of C-listers). But the U.S. also had a horrid display at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, finishing in seventh place despite multiple NBA All-Stars suiting up for them.
Of course, Team USA still won it all during the most meaningful of recent international tournaments — the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo (which Green participated in and was more than happy to brag about). Until Spain beats the United States head-to-head (which they have not done since 2002), Green’s stance is not likely to change.
