This NBA season started and ended with two former Defensive Player of the Year winners both punching one of their teammates.
Less than two weeks before their first game of the season, Golden State star Draymond Green punched Warriors guard Jordan Poole in the face during a Warriors practice. Green later blamed himself for Golden State’s slow start to this season.
That was obviously not an ideal way to kick off the campaign for the reigning champions, and NBA players were stunned when they saw the video. For example, at the time of the incident, Rudy Gobert tweeted: “Insecurity is always loud.”
Insecurity is always loud.
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) October 7, 2022
Some people may have forgotten about the tweet, but Green did not.
During the final game of the regular season, Gobert threw a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson while on the bench during a game against the Pelicans. It was an ugly scene.
Green tweeted the same message Gobert shared in October:
Insecurity is always loud…
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 9, 2023
Green can famously recite the names of all 34 players who were selected before him in the 2014 NBA Draft. So it shouldn’t surprise us that he has a strong enough memory to recall what people said about him following his fight with Poole.
Green was not suspended for the altercation, though he did spend some time away from the team. The Timberwolves sent Gobert home after he threw his punch at Kyle Anderson and the organization is considering suspending the big man for the play-in game against the Lakers.
Should the Timberwolves still make the playoffs, it would be fascinating to see them potentially match up with Green’s Warriors.