Draymond Green critical of media, says Cavs 'playing great basketball'
— -- On Monday, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green said he thought teams would give the Cleveland Cavaliers a stiffer challenge in the playoffs. On Wednesday after practice, he revealed that he took offense to the headlines some went with regarding those comments.
"I didn't say I was disappointed with their competition," Green said. "First off, people always want to take a piece of a statement and then say, 'Ah man, Draymond said the Cavs aren't playing anybody.' They never say, 'Draymond said Cleveland is playing great basketball.'
"So everybody is always chasing a headline, the controversy. Watching ESPN is like watching a controversial reality TV show. It's pretty pathetic that that's what the headline everybody wants."
Earlier in the week, Green was asked his opinion on the Cavaliers and what they've been able to accomplish by going 8-0 in the playoffs.
His response: "I thought teams would compete a little harder. I just watched San Antonio-Houston. I like to watch good basketball. When you watch Cleveland play, you're only watching one side of the good basketball. That's kind of weak. I like watching a good game, not even necessarily that it's going to be a close game. I like to watch teams playing good basketball. When you watch them, you watch one team playing good basketball and everybody else do something. I don't know what that something is."
Green is known for being provocative and making controversial statements, but on this occasion, he apparently felt what he said didn't warrant the outrage.
"'Draymond is disappointed with who Cleveland plays.' You think I care who Cleveland plays or how the other team plays?" he said. "But I am a basketball fan and I know what I want to watch as a basketball fan. So I don't understand how all these things are always made so controversial. Not that it alters my daily life. I still go home and have fun with my kids and have a great day. But it's just ridiculous how everybody is always searching for a controversy."
The Warriors and Cavaliers are both undefeated entering the conference finals. They're each four wins away from meeting in the finals for the third consecutive year. Green's argument was that there have been no headlines saying how well each team's rival is playing.
He dared the media before walking off.
"So there goes your headline of the day. 'Draymond says Cleveland is playing great basketball.' Let's see if that one makes it," Green said.
