There’s no love lost between the Warriors’ Draymond Green and the Hornets’ Grant Williams.
Green set off fireworks between the two teams in the final minute of the Warriors’ 97-84 win on Friday, an act instigated by Charlotte’s Miles Bridges in an effort to target Williams, with whom Green has a past feud. It seems like it was.
When the Warriors’ Lester Quinones attempted a garbage-time layup, Bridges went up and flicked it away and was called for goaltending, apparently upset that Quinones was about to score.
At that moment, players from both teams entered the court and a scrum began.
Williams was removed from the game and near Golden State’s bench with Green watching.
Green was unimpressed by Williams’ actions.
“He’s gotten along well with everyone this year, and then he came to our bench and thought he was going to make friends soon,” Green said after the game. “You don’t have any friends here, dude. It’s like you have to go out there and talk to your guys. You can’t come in here and talk about what happened to the players. No, we support [Quinones]”
And it’s not the first time.
Green and Williams faced off multiple times during the 2022 NBA Finals, when Williams was with the Celtics.
After Golden State won the title, Williams said Boston was still the better team.
Friday night’s fight renewed tensions.
“Grant Williams [has] It has to stop,” Green said. “He can’t continue to be this tough guy. It’s completely going in the wrong direction for him. He’s a really nice guy, and for some reason he keeps trying to jump on the asshole side. . And I have to tell you it’s not always fun here. It’s not always good times.”
Green referenced reports that Williams was traded to the Mavericks at least in part because of attitude issues, adding that he didn’t think this was the first time Williams had gotten in the way of his own words.
“I talked so much that I got kicked out of Dallas,” Green said. “He’s talking too much over there right now. Maybe he should slow down and drop the whole tough guy thing.”
Green also noted that he did not believe Williams’ actions were appropriate for someone who: NBA Players Association First Vice President“We can’t just do that here.”
Green also blamed Charlotte for getting angry at Quinones going for the goal.
“I really don’t understand why anyone would be so angry about someone scoring at the end of a game,” Green said. “It’s like some stupid unwritten rule that everyone gets mad at. For example, if you guys were winning by 13 points, would you get mad if he layed the ball up? I doubt it.
“So it’s kind of like a competitive type of thing.”
