Draymond Green promised his teammates that he wouldn’t let his emotions get the best of him again like they did in Game 6 against the Rockets, and the Warriors credited his accountability in part for their poise in a Game 7 win on the road two nights later.
It will be just as imperative in the second round.
If Dillon Brooks and Alperen Sengun can be considered thorns in the side of Golden State’s impassioned point forward, Rudy Gobert might as well be a shank. The two big men have fought over more than just Defensive Player of the Year honors, and they’ll see plenty of each other this series.
“I have to keep it similar for my guys,” Green said of the Minnesota matchup after setting the tone in Game 7. “Forget anybody else. I’ll be locked in. Finding that balance, finding that line and not crossing it is important for me and this team. I gave them my word, and I’ll continue to give them my word.”
Green prides himself on toeing the line, but he admitted he went too far against the Rockets. He picked up three technical foul and two flagrants — four more techs or two more flagrants earns Green a one-game suspension, a punishment he’s been handed before for his actions against Gobert.
When Gobert got in between Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels during a 2023 tussle, Green wasted no time entering the fray, grasping his right forearm around Gobert’s neck, clasping his hands together, and aggressively pulling him away from the scrum.
Green’s history with Gobert goes back longer than the headlock that resulted in the NBA suspending him for five games.
The feud has gotten more personal — and physical — in recent years, but it all started with the two mostly exchanging barbs on social media.
Green won his lone Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017, and Gobert won his first of four the following year, but it wasn’t until both players were left off the roster for the 2019 All-Star Game in Charlotte that things began to get personal. Gobert got emotional over the supposed snub, and Green sniped back on Twitter, “I guess I should cry too … no Charlotte?” with three teary-eyed emojis.
Another user replied, “Like U cried in the parking lot for KD?” The response, referring to Green’s reported recruiting pitch to Kevin Durant after their 2016 Finals defeat, garnered more than 17,000 likes, including one from Gobert.
In 2022, it was Gobert who decided to stir things up on social media, but he wouldn’t get the last laugh. After Green’s infamous practice punch that fall, Gobert posted, “Insecurity is always loud.” But only six months later, Green sent a tweet with the exact same message after Gobert went after his own teammate, Kyle Anderson.
Green continued to discuss the incident on his podcast, where he made his clearest statement yet about his feelings toward Gobert.
“Kyle Anderson uttered some words that a lot people thinks. He said it. He said what a lot of people thinks,” Green said, repeating the pejorative obscenity Anderson supposedly directed at Gobert. “I personally think Rudy Gobert is on the softer side. He gained a little respect from me because he stood up for himself.”
Soon enough, the tension would boil over into a physical altercation between the two players.
But in the meantime, Green used his increasing media platform to continue to come at Gobert. Since joining TNT’s “Inside the NBA” as an occasional contributor, his appearances have gone off the rails more than once at the mere mention of his nemesis’ name.
In fact, the Timberwolves boycotted the entire show because of Green’s comments during last year’s playoffs, according to The Athletic, which described the criticism directed toward Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns as “derisive and seemingly personal.”
In one instance, Green said Gobert was getting “cooked” by Nikola Jokic, making a play on his native language (“It’s not ‘oui’ ‘oui ‘oui’ … it’s you who needs to get a stop”). He called the matchup “barbecue chicken” and said Gobert “doesn’t stand a chance.”
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“You keep mentioning me in the same sentence with him. We are not alike,” Green said. “We ain’t nothing alike. … I think what he does on the defensive side of the ball is incredible. I think the way he protects the rim is incredible. But defense is more than just protecting the rim.”
Green’s prodding in the press culminated in his visit to the Target Center for an on-location taping of “Inside the NBA” last spring during Minnesota’s Western Conference semifinals series against the Dallas Mavericks. As Green broke down a play with Luka Doncic, managing to slight Gobert in the process (“When you ended up with Rudy Gobert on you, was that the matchup that you were looking for?”), the Timberwolves crowd chanted a phrase Green is sure to hear this week.
“Rudy sucks,” Green responded. “Not me.”
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