Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is at the forefront of a movement in sports journalism; a collective he refers to as the “new media.” Alongside fellow ballers JJ Redick, CJ McCollum, Patrick Beverley, Duncan Robinson and others, Green has blurred the lines between the athlete and the analyst.
It’s a brave new world where, in addition to bringing their unique perspectives to the discussion, players are also controlling their own narratives and doling out flowers where they feel the traditional media is intent on tearing people down.
Whether that’s a good thing or not is a matter of perspective. For his part, ESPN’s Stephen A Smith believes that the new media lacks a level of objectivity that is requisite for the job. And he’s far from the only one taking issue with the approach of Green and others like him.
On Wednesday, one such detractor caught the eye of former Dubs star Kevin Durant, who quickly called upon Green to set him straight.
KD Signals Draymond
In what may have been the Draymond-iest declaration of all time, Green began the day by announcing that he was ready and willing to use his new media hammer to tamp down the trolls. “Anybody talk out of turn today?” he asked, via Twitter. “Just logging on the app to see if there’s someone to destroy.”
For his part, Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma thought Green was wild’n, tweeting “What is wrong with you?”
However, Durant — himself the proprietor of a media venture known as The Boardroom — eventually answered Green’s call for social media destruction.
In response to a video featuring the Pardon My Take crew trying to bully or guilt him into coming on their show, Durant tweeted that he had his own podcast and dropped the #newmedia hashtag. Alas, one fan took issue with KD’s tweet, responding with the following:
The ex-Warriors champ was clearly unimpressed and subsequently implored his old teammate to drop the hammer.
“Yooo @Money23Green he talkin out of turn today,” tweeted the Nets star.
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Will Dray Answer the Call?
As of this writing, Green has yet to answer Durant’s call for new media justice. But it’s not like he has any problem taking people to task for “talking out of turn,” as he calls it. Just ask Kendrick Perkins, who got obliterated by Draymond after the Warriors clinched their latest championship.
“The problem is all these people talking about basketball that don’t know basketball. So what do you do? You chase controversy. The new media, we don’t do that. That’s why you see JJ Redick flourish, that’s why you see CJ McCollum flourish, that’s why you see me flourishing,” Green said on his show following Golden State’s Finals win.
“You got fools like Kendrick Perkins coming dressed like a clown, wearing a jail suit, then you leave the game early tonight. Stand on your word, bro. I’m going to stand on mine. Four-time champ, I’m out.”
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Former Warriors Champion Prods Draymond Green to ‘Destroy’ Troll