The rivalry between Draymond Green and Dillon Brooks threatened to turn physical as the duo clashed during the anticipated battle between the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
Brooks ultimately got the last laugh, as his Grizzlies secured a memorable 131-110 win in the feisty encounter with the 27-year-old guard scoring 14 points along with six assists and four rebounds. Green ended up with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the road defeat.
The match was played just one day after Green labelled Brooks a ‘clown’ on his podcast - and with just over a minute remaining in the first half, the pair came face-to-face to the pleasure of the raucous sold-out crowd at FedEx Forum. Brooks stole a Warriors inbound pass and converted a contested layup on his rival to make the score 74-57 in favour of the Grizzlies.
As Green recovered the ball, he clashed heads with Brooks and both players’ restraint was tested. The former Defensive Player of the Year attempted to antagonise the Canadian by shoving the ball in his face, but Brooks kept his cool.
After the crushing win, Brooks told TNT reporter Jared Greenberg he ‘should give the mic to Draymond’ to talk about him and make the Grizzlies guard ‘play better’. He added: “That's what I do, I talk. I told [Draymond] to keep that mic open. Keep doing his podcast, keep blogging, keep doing his thing off the court. You know it's cute, it's fun for him.”
Brooks was also seen clashing with Steph Curry during the fourth quarter, with the two consistently exchanging words throughout the win over the reigning NBA champions. Brooks was tasked with guarding the two-time MVP with Curry scoring 29 points in the losing effort.
Green claimed the Warriors and Grizzlies were not rivals despite their heated clashes and the defeat, insisting: “One team has to win, and then another team has to win - that's what creates a rivalry. Not because one team gets up for you and talk like they can beat you and then not. That doesn't create a rivalry. Rivalries are created by you win, I win. Clearly, we've won four times, and I think their organisation has zero championships, so I can't consider that a rivalry.
“Anybody can win in March. Anybody can win in March. What that mean? I have a hard time getting out of bed in March. What's a game in March mean?”
The rivalry between Green and Brooks took a new turn last week, when the Grizzlies ace ranted to ESPN about the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year. On Wednesday, Green responded on his own podcast, carefully attacking Brooks’ remarks sentence-by sentence.
“[Brooks] said, ‘I don't like Draymond at all.’ You don't know me. That's number one,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show. “He said, ‘I just don't like Golden State.'' I, quite frankly, wouldn't like a team that beats me all the time either. That's number two.
“‘I don't want anything to do with them.’ Quite frankly, you were a little kid in high school watching us win championships. You should be happy that you even witnessed that. You're a fan. That's crazy.”
Green added: “If you ever wondered why the Memphis Grizzlies is not ready to compete for a championship, look no further than this idiot right here. They actually are depending on this guy to help them win a championship, and he says his game is cool. Quite frankly, that just shows how little you know about basketball. That's where it gets really interesting.
“Your level of understanding the game of basketball is at a fan level. And you're running around talking about a dynasty? The dynasty starts after you, not with you. That's just a fact. I know dynasty-like players. They aren't clowns. That doesn't work when building a dynasty.
”Take it from me - I actually know! Clowns don't work building a dynasty.”
The 39-26 Grizzlies and 34-33 Warriors will clash one more time in the regular season, with another trip to Memphis beckoning for Golden State on March 18.
