Draymond Green sent the NBA world into a frenzy late on Monday evening when he was ejected from Game 2 of the Warriors first-round playoff series against the Kings for stomping on Sacramento star Domantas Sabonis.
Though some were quick to lay the blame fully on the Golden State forward, who has had his fair share of controversial dust-ups in the past, not everyone thought that Sabonis was faultless. Among those in the latter group: Shaquille O’Neal.
Shaq pointed out that during the fourth-quarter incident, Sabonis wrapped his arms around and grabbed Green’s right ankle, which caused Green to take drastic measures to try and wrangle himself free. Though the Big Diesel still felt that what the Warriors star did was dirty, he admitted that he would’ve done something similar if put in the same situation.
Nadkarni: Draymond Green Can’t Take the Bait, but His Ejection Was Punishment Enough
“I’m not gonna sit up here and be a hypocrite. I would have done the same thing [as Green],” O’Neal said on Inside the NBA after the game when discussing the incident. “Don’t be grabbing me, because what am I gonna do? If I stay there and just try to run forward, I’ll fall. You gotta get him up off you. And if you up off me and you in the way, you might get stomped on. Was it a dirty play? Of course it was a dirty play. But, hey, don’t grab me and this won't happen.”
“Why don’t you lay on the floor and I’ll see if I can stomp on you?” 🤣💀@SHAQ & Chuck on Draymond's ejection pic.twitter.com/LDI9WGUT3D
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 18, 2023
O’Neal was on an island with his take, as the rest of the TNT crew was quick to push back on his rather controversial stance. Kenny Smith used a rather apt metaphor to dispute Shaq’s point.
“If I grab you and you hit me with a chair … it’s just excessive,” Smith laughed. “I’m not saying that he shouldn’t get him off him but it was a little excessive.”
Shaq wasn’t done though as continued push back from Charles Barkley prompted him to suggest that Barkley should lay on the floor and grab his ankle. Barkley preferred for the roles to be reversed.
“Why don’t you lay on the floor and I’ll see if I can stomp on you?” he joked to Shaq.
Though the TNT crew obviously had a good time debating the play that came to define Game 2 of the Western Conference series, Green and the Warriors will await further word from the NBA about a possible additional punishment that could render the Golden State leader unavailable as the series swings back to San Francisco with the Warriors trailing 2–0.
