National Basketball Association

Five times Draymond Green roasted the Clippers

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Nov 19, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) reacts from the court in the second half against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. The Warriors won 124-117. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Draymond Green isn’t afraid of speaking his mind. Here are five times in which he’s completely owned the Los Angeles Clippers.

Once upon a time, the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers were in a close rivalry. Both teams were perennial losers, but on the strength of their point guards and young talent, they were flipping the script. They were both fighting for a spot on top.

The Warriors and Clippers met in the 2014 NBA Playoffs. It was exactly what everyone wanted. It was a hard-fought series that went seven games. Ultimately, Golden State fell to Los Angeles in seven games.

The next year the Warriors won 67 games and a championship. Stephen Curry won the MVP and the team was dominant. The Clippers defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the first round, but then fell to the Houston Rockets in a seven game series.

Since the 2014 playoffs, both teams have gone in opposite directions. The Warriors have become dominant and the face of basketball, everything the Chris Paul and Blake Griffin’s Clippers were supposed to be. Meanwhile, LA can’t get past the second round.

These two teams don’t like each other. Since the rivalry started a few years back, there’s been genuine animosity between the squads. They have expressed their dislike on the court, off the court, and in the media.

Draymond Green has been in the middle of it all. He’s instigated some of it. He’s reacted to other situations. Either way, he has yet to take an L in this rivalry. Here are five teams he’s roasted the Clippers.

Mar 8, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) boxes out Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) in the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

5. Texting the Clippers about DeAndre Jordan

Draymond Green will talk trash to anyone. If you give him a window to do so, he’ll absolutely run with it. One of those opportunities arrived.

DeAndre Jordan, the Clippers’ starting center, had pretty much decided to leave Los Angeles and join the Dallas Mavericks. The two sides had agreed in principle as they couldn’t sign yet. It was just a matter of time. He was gone.

Jordan is an important piece for the Clippers. Their defense falls apart without their vocal shot blocker. He forms a deadly duo with Blake Griffin in the frontcourt. The Clippers would have suffered without him.

Draymond Green knew this. So he got on his phone and texted Branden Dawson, a former teammate of his at Michigan State and a second-round pick for the Clippers. Of the Clippers, he wrote “they’re done.” Here’s what Dawson had to say to the Beast 980 (via Fox Sports):

“When they found out that DeAndre was supposedly leaving, Draymond texts us, he texts in a group message, he said, we’re done. Draymond Green, he’s a trash talker. He’s always going to talk trash, no matter what. I just put, “LOL. We’ll see.”

Of course, Jordan ended up changing his mind after the Clippers practically kidnapped him. But Green trash-talking a former teammate and a member of a rival contender on free agency is great stuff. It’s straight to the point.

Nov 19, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) blocks a shot by Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul Pierce (34) in the second half of the game at Staples Center. The Warriors won 124-117. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

4. Telling Paul Pierce “nobody care about what you did”

Paul Pierce has been talking about Kevin Durant and the Warriors an awful lot. He’s criticized his move to Golden State several times since he announced the decision. Green came to his new teammates’ defense.

Pierce was on Siruis XM radio, questioning the current generation of players and their competitive nature. He’s throwing more shots at Durant, essentially saying he’s looking for the easy way out. HIs comments are just silly.

Green wasn’t having it though. He’s probably just as fed up as Durant most likely is. So he fired back after Pierce just a few hours after the veteran forward expressed himself:

“I just wonder at what point do they get bored talking about the same thing. You got all these guys talking. Like (Paul) Pierce today, like, dude nobody care what you did or who you did it for. Just give it a break. Everybody got something to say and want to take everything he say and twist it. Like, he play with the Warriors. OKC has their team, we have our team. He left there. Nobody complain when somebody leave Apple and go to Google.”

Draymond Green told a future Hall of Famer that nobody cares what he did or what team he did it for. While it might not be entirely accurate, it’s still absolutely hilarious. Green will not back down from anyone.

Pierce just sounds salty. Whining to the media about Durant’s decision isn’t going to change it. So Green’s response to him is a perfect response, for the most part. His Apple vs. Google debate was interesting, but it might have gotten away from the point.

Draymond won this one.

November 4, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) shoots the basketball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Clippers 112-108. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

3. That time he trash-talked Chris Paul

Draymond Green doesn’t just go after future Hall of Famers that are way past their prime. He goes after them while they’re still playing at a high level. He’ll even do it during the course of a game.

Chris Paul is one of the game’s elite point guards and he has been for a long time now. Steph Curry has taken the top spot from him over the last few years. They’re both special players, but Curry has had the edge, especially in head-to-head matchups.

Paul is a great defender for his position, but he just has no idea what to do with Curry. He jumps when he shouldn’t, he reaches at the wrong time, and he just gets buckets poured on him. It almost look like Curry is toying with him sometimes.

Green made sure to let Paul know about it. Check out this section from an LA Times piece about the game’s best trash talkers:

“Last year, he was talking a gang of trash to Chris Paul,” a Western Conference head coach said. “He said, ‘Steph used to be intimidated by you. But you know what? Those days are over. He’s busting your ass every time we see you.’
“And then it wasn’t three minutes after that when Steph had that move on the baseline where he put CP in the ‘Matrix,’ had Chris falling all over the place on the court.”

That’s elite. Green was trash-talking on his point guard’s behalf and a few minutes later Curry drops him. That’s almost scary.

To tell one of the greatest players at his position that he’s going to get cooked is absolutely amazing. It’s some of Green’s finest work. And the fact that Curry made the dribble move of the year adds to it.

2. The Dahntay Jones incident

This was absolutely fantastic. This one made a case to be number one. The Warriors had just finished picking apart the Clippers on national television when LA reserve Dahntay Jones wanted to express his frustration.

As Green did his post game for ABC, Jones walked past him and bumped him. He made contact with Green and kept walking. Green stopped mid-sentence and looked up to see who it was. Then he just stared.

The Warriors’ forward was asked about it after the game and he gave possibly the greatest response you could ever imagine (via USA Today):

“If [Dahntay Jones] gets suspended, they may not even notice. So I guess good bump-by, but I definitely expect to be reviewed by the NBA. You know, for him to look at me and look at me again, and bump me, when I’m doing a postgame interview, that’s really smart too, when it’s on ABC. And obviously the postgame interview is the highlight of that segment, and you bump somebody? He got some camera time, which he needed because there wasn’t much celebration from their bench today, so you didn’t see him much. So he got the camera time that he was looking for…He served his purpose in today’s game.”

Draymond really just said that no one would notice if a certain NBA player got suspended. Jones had plenty of room to go around him and, while he denied it, it looked to be pretty intentional. He was either looking for a certain type of reaction or he didn’t want to handle the loss like an adult. Either way, he got owned.

Green’s post game reaction was incredible. It was the right level of arrogant, the right level of petty, the right level of degrading. It was glorious.

October 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers smiles during the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Clippers 125-107. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

1. Cool story, Glenn

This isn’t only one of his best trash-talking moments, this is one of his best moments in general. This showcases Green’s whole arsenal. There are few men in the league that can match this.

Following the Jones bump, the NBA assessed him a fine. Of course, the Clippers weren’t too happy about it. So they did what they do best: complain.

The Clippers’ head coach, Doc Rivers, is the ringleader. He’s the best at complaining, turning to referees overtime he gets. And when something doesn’t go his way, he flashes that, admittedly, wonderful smile.

Rivers spoke to reporters and told them ““I guess that tough guy in Golden State, the bump was too hard for him, clearly, the way he reacted. My goodness. I thought the guy was tough.” He questioned one of the toughest players’ toughness. That’s not ideal.

Green kept it together though. And it paid off beautifully. When he was asked about Rivers’ comments, he responded “cool story, Glenn.” If he had a mic, he would have dropped it with the force of a thousand Jason Richardson dunks.

He called Rivers out by his given name. I didn’t even know his name was Glenn until Draymond said it. Which really encapsulates the beauty of Draymond Green.

Not only did he just completely dominate someone. He did his homework. He flashed some really good knowledge. He was calm and relaxed and he came out on top.

Cool story, Glenn.