There are three finalists for this year’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award: Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, 76ers guard Ben Simmons, and Jazz center Rudy Gobert.
And if you tuned into the NBA Playoffs on TNT on Memorial Day, you may have witnessed one finalist, Green, critiquing another, Gobert.
Well, that’s a bit unusual. But Green was a guest analyst on Monday, his first of three days with the TNT crew. He presented his take during halftime of the Jazz vs. Grizzlies game, eventually won by Utah. In breaking down how the Grizzlies can dictate where Gobert plays defense, Green showed his competition for the DPOY award looking lost on a couple of occasions.
At the end of Green’s presentation, displayed below thanks to Viral Sports, TNT stalwart and former NBA champion, Kenny Smith, calls Green out a bit for talking about another DPOY candidate.
(Editor’s note: the below tweet was deleted by its author. The BASH is looking for video to replace it with).
https://twitter.com/NotScTop10plays/status/1399562151992377345?s=20
So what do you think? Was Green intentionally throwing shade at Gobert for not being as versatile on defense as — ahem — some other candidates? (That would be Green.)
It’s impossible to say what Green’s exact intentions were, but he’s speaking the truth here. Gobert is strongest while defending in the paint, and if you want to combat that, extend him out toward the 3-point line and make him defend there.
If Green was a journalist, he might have known to stay away from a subject so personal. But he’s not. He’s on TNT to mix it up, and that’s what he did. I don’t know how the NBA feels about it, though. Green has been fined for his comments as a guest analyst on TNT before, so that’s a possibility.
But Green will continue being Green, that’s for sure. That includes being must-watch TV while he’s doing his thing on TNT.
(Photo credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports)
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