Draymond Green rarely holds back and most recently it was Knicks fans who were on the receiving end of his choice words.
Speaking with Trae Young about the Hawks star blossoming into a villain at Madison Square Garden in the 2021 playoffs, Green made his feelings known when it came to Knicks fans.
“Where that all was birthed really was the series versus the Knicks. Everybody in New York, Knicks fans are f—— delusional and miserable,’ Green told Young on his podcast. “And I love New York, so don’t ban me from your city. But they’re a hard fanbase.
“You go in the Garden, you’re hitting the shots, you bow and every time these shots you need to make, you make, you’re making every play and what I actually think now in continuing to watch and continuing to pay attention to it is you are very much a Showman, but yet that’s been flipped and again — talking [about] agendas — into being this villain.
“I’ll be the first to say it, being a villain sucks. It’s no fun. But when it’s up against you, you either fold or you stand up to it, you go into it.”
Young himself had a different take, saying he didn’t buy into the “villain status” and instead chose to relish the “F*ck Trae Young” chants.
“What do you want me to do? I’m just hooping,” he said. “I ain’t said nothing to the crowd, I ain’t bowed, I ain’t say ‘It’s quiet as F in here,’ I ain’t say none of that yet. I just really played off of how they guarded me & how the fans reacted. I come out playing, trying to win, trying to put on a show, and the fans wanna get into it.”
Young had the last laugh in 2021, beating the Knicks and advancing to the Eastern Conference finals. However, the Hawks have not made it past the first round since.
‘You Want to Spit on Everyone’: Evan Fournier Blasts Knicks and Tom Thibodeau
After being glued to the bench for much of last season, Evan Fournier has absolutely unleashed on the Knicks and head coach Tom Thibodeau.
In an interview with French outlet L’Equipe, Fournier didn’t hold back.
“You want to spit on everyone, you have hatred,” he told L’Equipe, in a translation published by BasketNews. “…Derrick Rose and I looked at each other and said to each other: ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ During the five-on-five practice, we were on the side like some prospects.
“…I would be very surprised to be a Knick next year. They pay me 18 million, they have no interest in keeping me.
“…If I stayed, it would be a disaster basketball-wise for my career. I can manage a year without playing. Two… that would be terrible.
“…If you want to trade me with a good return, why didn’t you use me? I was coming out of a season where I was the fourth-best 3-point shooter in the league. Why not take advantage of it? Now they won’t get anything interesting and that’s normal because I couldn’t show anything [on the court].”
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Fournier even threw in an incredible Dragon Ball Z analogy for good measure.
“Do you know Dragon Ball Z? When the hero Goku finds himself on planet Namek, injured, in a regeneration capsule? I had this image in my head all year, every practice,” he said.
Fournier will at least get the chance to get back on the court with France at the FIBA World Cup next month.
He has long been a standout in FIBA basketball and was named in the tournament’s All-Star Five in 2019.
