Dillon Brooks and Draymond Green threw gasoline on the most heated rivalry in the NBA this week, and their mutual distaste for one another persisted after the Memphis Grizzlies blew out the Golden State Warriors, 131-110, on Thursday. Their issues began last postseason, when Green was ejected from Game 1 of their playoff series against each other. Brooks was tossed from Game 2 and suspended for a dirty hit on Warriors guard Gary Payton II.
The two have traded barbs ever since, but Brooks took it to a new level last week in an ESPN profile. “I don’t like Draymond at all,” Brooks told ESPN’s Tim Keown. “I just don’t like Golden State. I don’t like anything to do with them. Draymond talks a lot. Gets away with a lot, too.” As you can imagine, Green didn’t take too kindly to that. On his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, he unloaded on Brooks. “If you ever wondered why the Memphis Grizzlies are not ready to compete for the championship, look no further than this idiot right here,” Green said of Brooks. Last season, Brooks referred to the Grizzlies as a budding dynasty, which Green mocked. “The dynasty starts after you, not with you, and that’s just a fact,” he said.
Well, naturally, Brooks had plenty to say after the Grizzlies beat the Warriors on Thursday. In his post-game interview, he had revealed the message he had for Green about his burgeoning media career. “Keep doing his podcast, keep blogging, keep doing his thing off the court,” Brooks said. “It’s cute. It’s fun for him.”
Green, of course, had plenty to say himself. He said that Brooks could easily be baited into technical fouls, and “that’s probably the difference between me and him.” He also refused to consider the Grizzlies a rival because they’ve never beaten the Warriors in the playoffs. “Anybody can win in March,” Green joked. “I have a hard time getting out of my bed in March.”
As it stands right now, there is a good chance that the Warriors and Grizzlies face off in the first round of the playoffs. The Kings and Grizzlies are tied in the loss column for the No. 2 and No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, and with Kevin Durant expected to miss several weeks with a sprained ankle, neither is likely to fall any farther. The Warriors are in the No. 6 slot right now, so depending on how the rest of the season goes, they might face Memphis in the first round if they can remain at No. 6 or earn the No. 7 seed in the play-in round.
Should that series come to pass, Memphis would have a chance to beat Golden State when it counts. Until then? Don’t expect Green to give Brooks an inch on the court or off of it.
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Sam Quinn