Draymond Green wasted no time recording his podcast after the Warriors’ 120–100 win over the Kings in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series and took the opportunity to call out Sacramento forward Domantas Sabonis for not shaking hands after the game.
“Lost a lot of respect for Sabonis,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show. “You don’t shake guys’ hands after you lose, I don’t respect that. I once left the court when we lost in Game 7 to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and I went to my locker room and I sat down and I said, ‘This don’t feel right,’ and I walked back out on the court and I showed everybody love. You lost. Deal with it. Pay your respect.”
"Lost a lot of respect for Sabonis. You don't shake guys hands after you lose? I don't respect that… You lost, deal with it. Pay your respect."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 1, 2023
— Draymond Green
(via @TheVolumeSports)pic.twitter.com/34OfVkYOkd
Green was referring to the 2016 NBA Finals when the Warriors’ historic 73–9 season was sullied by LeBron James’s leading his team back from a 3–1 deficit to win it all on Golden State’s home floor. Naturally, the loss stung, but Green says he still shook hands with the Cavs afterward.
Green and Sabonis battled all series, and things escalated in Game 2 when Green was ejected for stomping on Sabonis’s chest while he was on the ground, prompting Green to receive a Flagrant 2 foul. Sabonis was assessed a technical foul for grabbing Green’s ankle while on the ground. But in the end, the four-time champion got the last word.
“I wouldn’t necessarily even say lost respect,” Green continued. “I don’t respect that, and that’s wack.”
