Warriors' Green, Bucks' Mayo in postgame dustup
OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State forward Draymond Green and Milwaukee guard O.J. Mayo had a heated exchange after the Warriors’ 121-112 win Friday night, leading team security to get between Green and Bucks players.
Green held up his hand as Mayo made contact with Green’s chest after the buzzer. The two then traded words, and Mayo touched the back of Green’s head. Green brushed Mayo’s arm off, and some pushing and shoving between the teams ensued.
“I’m not really into talking about what guys say. What you think he said he may not have said or he may have said,” Green said in the locker room. “Just, ain’t no man going to touch my head. I’m a grown man. That’s all I’ve got for you.”
Asked whether that was what the altercation was mostly about, Green said, “Once again, I’m not going to go into what he said, what you think he may have said, he may have said or may not have said, but no man is going to touch my head. Point blank.”
According to Bucks players, Green’s comments to the media earlier this week sparked the altercation. Green publicly criticized Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams for staring down the Warriors’ bench last Saturday in Golden State’s lone loss of the season. Green made reference to Carter-Williams losing his starting spot, telling Bay Area radio station KNBR, “Michael Carter-Williams getting a dunk at the end of the game and looking at our bench; like, ‘Dude, you lost your spot. So, it’s not quite common that you should be looking toward someone’s bench yelling. You’ve got some ground to make up.'”
Mayo said he was standing up for Carter-Williams.
“I told [Green] he’s a heck of a player, but at the end of the day, that’s my teammate,” Mayo said. “Just respect my teammate as well as we respect you guys, and some things you shouldn’t say in the media. Show your class, you know.”
Mayo continued, saying of Green, “You talk about one guy’s class, and then you go the same route. Not a class act.”
Green wasn’t the only Warrior to call out the Bucks during the week. Golden State did not take kindly to how Milwaukee celebrated Saturday’s outcome.
“Oh, it was a nice celebration. We do remember that stuff,” Stephen Curry said Wednesday. “We were kind of laughing at some of the stuff going on. It was a big game for them. Friday will be a big game for us.”
Klay Thompson also predicted the rematch would “be fun.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the dunk, but the stare-down, trying to talk nasty in the game like that,” Thompson said. “And it’s like, ‘All right, you’re going to see us next Friday and in our building, too.'”
Continued Thompson: “Obviously a team that gave us our one in the loss column, and we felt they could have won with a little more class.”
Carter-Williams, who started in Friday’s game, said of the situation, “I think Draymond, he motivates his team in different ways. I spoke to him on it. I’m not a big fan of trying to call somebody out in the media. He spoke to me and said, ‘It’s all love, all part of the game. I’m just trying to get my team going.’ But speaking on somebody’s basketball, coming off the bench, starting, whatever, [is] something I don’t think you should really do.”
Green also said after Friday’s win that he was not satisfied with the Warriors’ performance, despite the victory.
“We should have been better,” he said. “We’re a long way past just beating the Milwaukee Bucks in December. We’re trying to compete for a championship.”
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
