Draymond Green flailing like a fish after slight contact (Video)
By John Buhler
Draymond Green definitely oversells this slight facial contact he received from Jonathon Simmons. Matt Barnes and Zaza Pachulia were not amused.
The Golden State Warriors already have a 3-0 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs. They have controlled Game 4 from the jump and should be on their way to a third straight NBA Finals. That doesn’t mean their star power forward Draymond Green is going to change the way he plays at all.
Green is a great player, but is certainly the primary instigator on the juggernaut Warriors. He has the ball out on the perimeter with Spurs forward Jonathon Simmons guarding him tightly. When Simmons’ arm slightly grazes Green’s face, Green begins flopping and flailing like a fish out of water.
Green’s Warriors teammates in forward Matt Barnes and center Zaza Pachulia were not amused from the Golden State bench. If those two other Golden State agitators weren’t on board with Green’s acting job, nobody would be.
Golden State is on the precipice of reaching the 2017 NBA Finals at a perfect 12-0. Green has been arguably the most important player on the 2016-17 Warriors and he is poised to win his first NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.
Green may be a tad bit of an on-court nuisance for the opposition, but nobody guards players one through five to the level that Green can. Trying to draw excessive contact from Simmons was unnecessary, but very much a part of Green’s one-of-a-kind game.
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It’s not easy to get inside of a Spurs player’s head, but maybe Green is practicing for the head games he’ll have to play against presumably the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals? Cleveland had its shot at reaching the NBA Finals unscathed, but a terrible Game 3 performance by LeBron James against the Boston Celtics means that best-of-seven series will now have to go five.