Known pot-stirrer Draymond Green did what he does best on Sunday night and ripped into the NBA's new All-Star weekend format, which, much to his chagrin, included a team of young "Rising Stars" who had not been selected as actual All-Stars to play in a four-team mini-tournament for the All-Star Game.
Green took issue with this development during an pregame appearance on TNT.
"I had to work so hard to play on Sunday night of All-Star weekend. And because ratings are down, because the game is bad, we're bringing in rising stars? That's not a fix," Green said.
He went on: "Those guys did not make the All-Star team. To be playing in the All-Star game and you did not make the All-Star team is absurd."
"I had to work so hard to play on Sunday night of All-Star Weekend. And because ratings are down and the game is bad, we're bringing in rising stars. That's not a fix."
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 17, 2025
- Draymond 😳
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24 )
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Green is not alone in his criticism of the new format. But his comments were still pretty spicy in how direct they were.
At the very least, though, Los Angeles Lakers rookie and Rising Star Dalton Knecht paid no mind to the criticism. If anything, he seemed to just laugh it off as characteristic of the 34-year-old Golden State Warrior.
"It's Draymond," Knecht said with a smile when asked about the remarks. "He's just talking."
Pressed about it again, he repeated the same three-word message: "He's just talking."
Knecht and the Rising Stars team fell to Team Shaq 42–35 Sunday night, though Knecht led his unit with eight points. Team Shaq then defeated Team Chuck, who had previously beat Team Kenny, to win the finals.
And despite Green's take on it all, Knecht definitely enjoyed his chance to play with some of the NBA's heavyweights. “I think it’s kind of fun how they had us set up with the old heads with the young stars and then Rising Stars,” he said Sunday night. “I think that’s pretty cool.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dalton Knecht Had Three-Word Response to Draymond Green's Rising Star Complaints.
