Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is not known for freely offering praise to his fellow NBA players, but he is making a surprising exception for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Green was critical of those who believe the Oklahoma City Thunder star’s success is down to his perceived flopping. The Warriors veteran found it bizarre that people would actually believe a player of Gilgeous-Alexander’s caliber could achieve what he has by foul-baiting.
“Shai, what I will say is, you’ve reached a new level of greatness, my man. You’ve reached a new level of greatness because you have sports media coming out and talking about what they don’t like about your greatness,” Green said. “That’s incredible. As if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is running up and down the court with the whistle in his mouth calling a foul for himself.
“I’ve been baffled watching people talk about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander like he didn’t just win back-to-back MVPs in the NBA, which is the best basketball league in the world by a long shot. We’re really going to try to discredit him and act like it’s all because he flopped? You all think the NBA is that easy, where this guy just flops and goes to the free throw line, and he becomes the back-to-back MVP in this league? We gonna really dumb the NBA down to that? That’s a shame. It’s actually sickening.”
Draymond Green on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 👀
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 30, 2026
"You've reached a new level of greatness, my man… You got sports media coming out and talking about what they don't like about your greatness, as if SGA is running up and down the court with the whistle in his mouth calling a foul… pic.twitter.com/ur4XwV5EpX
Green is not the sort of player who dishes out praise freely. He’s usually the one clashing with opponents. Perhaps he sees a kindred spirit in SGA, who has been the increasing target of media criticism despite his unquestioned accomplishments.
Green is correct, though it does not necessarily invalidate the criticism toward SGA. He may be elite in a lot of ways, but his style just is not always entertaining. To some, it feels like a cheap way to succeed, but if it were easy, he would not excel at it the way he does.
Gilgeous-Alexander has made it clear he does not care much about what people say about his alleged flopping. Still, he might appreciate the show of support from an unexpected source.
