Warriors forward Draymond Green had an eventful first-round series against the Kings. So eventful, in fact, that he continued to generate headlines even after the series was over.
After a fiercely contested seven-game battle that saw Green ejected from Game 2 for stomping on the chest of Sacramento forward Domantas Sabonis, Green assailed Sabonis on his podcast for failing to shake his hand after Game 7. However, a video from 2018 shows Green espousing a different perspective on postgame handshakes.
Green, interviewed by NBC Sports Bay Area at the Warriors championship parade that summer, recounted then-Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson attempting to shake his hand after Game 4 of Golden State’s sweep of Cleveland in that year’s NBA finals.
“He tried to shake my hand,” Green said. “I said ‘Tristan, we ain’t cut the same.’”
"He tried to shake my hand, I said 'Tristan, we ain't cut the same."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 13, 2018
–Draymond on not shaking hands with Tristan Thompson after Game 4. pic.twitter.com/VJn82lYUsz
On Monday, Green remarked on The Draymond Green Show that he “lost a lot of respect” for Sabonis due to his postgame actions.
“I once left the court when we lost in Game 7 (of the 2016 Finals) 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,” Green said. “Pay your respect.”
Green and Golden State, incidentally, will meet Thompson and the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. The series will begin with Game 1 on Tuesday.
