Despite being a part of sports media, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is clearly not a fan of the industry.
Green, a guest analyst on ESPN’s Inside the NBA for the 2026 playoffs in an occasional role that dates back to 2021 on the studio show, sounded off about sports media amid a rant about narratives surrounding Oklahoma City Thunder two-time reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“We’re talking about these things because sports media f*cking sucks,” Green said on his Audacy podcast, The Draymond Green Show. “It’s awful. No one talks basketball anymore. But no one knows basketball anymore because the sh*t is just moving too fast, huh? Everything is moving too fast, and so we want to pinpoint the thing that we can slow down.
“Shai’s falling. Shai’s at the free-throw line. Everybody’s complaining about Shai getting too many foul calls. And going into Game 6, Shai had shot five more free throws on the series than [Victor Wembanyama]. But the whole complaint is Shai’s getting too many foul calls. I don’t understand it. ‘Oh man, he’s foul-baiting!'”
“Shai, what I will say is, you’ve reached a new level of greatness, my man,” Green continued. “Congratulations. Your hard work has paid off. You’ve reached a new level of greatness because you’ve got sports media heads coming out and talking about what they don’t like about your greatness. Imagine that! You’ve got people coming out and talking about what they don’t like about your greatness! That’s incredible. As if Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander is running up and down the court with the whistle in his mouth, calling a foul for himself. That’s what we’re going to act like. We’re going to act like this man has on a zebra shirt, and he’s blowing the whistle for himself.”
“Or we can just act like the complete integrity of the NBA is all off, and they’re just calling fouls for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The NBA ain’t got no integrity. They’re just calling fouls for one guy,” Green added. “Fortunately, that theory doesn’t work, because the main guy on the other side, going into Game 6, has shot five less free throws. When all the complaining was happening; that’s why I’m saying before Game 7. Imagine that. So, that theory don’t work. So, maybe we can just appreciate greatness.”
“I mean, I have been baffled watching people talking about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander… We’re really going to discredit him and act like it’s all because he flopped? You all think the NBA is that easy, to where thisguy just flops and goes to the free-throw line, and he becomes the back-to-back MVP? In this league? We’re going to really dumb the NBA down to that? That’s a shame. It’s actually sickening.”
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.