Getty Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies.
After winning the NBA Championship last year, their fourth in eight seasons, the Golden State Warriors have been unable to match that success this year. They have hovered around the .500 mark for the majority of the season and will likely be fighting to avoid the Play-In Tournament.
However, that didn’t stop Draymond Green from going at Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant. The Warriors and the Grizzlies have had a well-documented feud for the past couple of seasons, and during All-Star Weekend, Green took the chance to ask Morant about his past comments.
Earlier this year, Morant told Malika Andrews of ESPN that he’s not scared of anyone in the Western Conference, and the only team he’s concerned about is the Boston Celtics. Green brought up this statement at the All-Star Game, asking Morant if it still rings true.
“[Teams] got better at the trade deadline. Are you still ‘fine in the West,’ and which teams are you looking at now and saying, ‘That team has to be reckoned with?'” Green asked Morant via NBC Sports Bay Area.
Teams did, in fact, get better out West at the deadline. This includes Kevin Durant joining the Phoenix Suns, Kyrie Irving joining the Dallas Mavericks, and the LA Clippers loading up with supporting pieces. Despite all that, Morant stuck to his guns.
“Definitely got to look at Phoenix now with adding [Durant],” Morant told Green. “Obviously, we can’t shy away from [the Warriors], everybody knows y’all always in contention. Champs. Still Boston, man. But yeah, I’m still fine in the West.”
Draymond Green Puts Warriors on Notice
While Morant admitted that they still respect the Warriors, it’s hard to view Golden State as a true contender right now. They have the talent to win a title, but they haven’t shown the necessary cohesiveness this year.
After their last game before the All-Star break, Green laid into his team, going on a rant about how their defense hasn’t been playing up to par this season.
“I don’t think it’s a championship hangover. It’s a will to want to defend,” Green said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “You’re not hungover at .500, 60 games into the season. You’re a loser if you’re still hungover at that point, so there’s no hangover. It’s the will to defend, stop and guard your man, sink in help and trap the box, rotate. Defense is all one to two steps extra. I’ma take that extra step to get there or I’m not. That’s all will, and we don’t have that as a team.”
Klay Thompson Sounds Off on Warriors Title Hopes
Meanwhile, Klay Thompson kept it real regarding Golden State’s title chances. He still believes they have a chance but also that they have to hold things down while Steph Curry is sidelined with an injury.
“The west is stacked, but at the end of the day you gotta go through who you gotta go through to win the whole thing, and whether that’s in the Finals or in the first round, there’s incredible talents,” Thompson said via the Warriors’ official Twitter account. “So, there’s really no rounds off. There’s no gimmes. And, for us, we know what it takes,” Klay said. “We gotta hold the fort down until Steph [Curry] gets back and just gotta get whole again but I know this break is gonna be very beneficial towards us, and I still love our chances of repeat and I am never gonna lose confidence in this team.”