Story by
Warriors’ Draymond Green blasts Play-In Tournament, NBA’s anti-tanking solutions
- Story by
- Warriors’ Draymond Green blasts Play-In Tournament, NBA’s anti-tanking solutions
Warriors' Draymond Green blasts Play-In Tournament, NBA's anti-tanking solutions appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
SAN FRANCISCO– While the Golden State Warriors will be playing for their lives next week in the Play-In Tournament as the No. 10 seed, there's little appetite for it from Draymond Green .
Advertisement
After the Warriors' 110-105 win over the downtrodden Sacramento Kings , Green was asked how he is approaching the final three games of the season in preparation for the upcoming No. 9 versus No. 10 game.
"It's not exciting," Green said with a look of disgust on his face. "But you know, I'm a competitor. So going into the game, I'm gonna do all I can to win. But it's not that exciting."
Even when prodded with the do-or-die nature of the Play-In and the allure of the nationally televised stage they'll be playing on, all Green could do was shrug his shoulders, shake his head, and express the minimal amount of passion for the NBA's contemporary addition to the playoff seeding process.
"I'm not gonna go to sleep tomorrow night like 'Man, we got the Play-In next week. Gotta get my rest," Green joked.
Advertisement
It's a sentiment Green has been brewing on for a while. A couple of weeks ago, Green expressed how he is "sick" of being stuck in the Play-In Tournament, describing the Warriors as "Play-In magnets," which he is not wrong about.
The Warriors have played in three of the six Play-In tournaments that have ever existed, and have been eliminated in two of them (2021, 2024). This season will be their fourth go-around and they'll have to win two in a row to survive. Not a fun place to be in, in what's basically the NBA equivalent of purgatory.
Draymond Green explains why the Play-In doesn't work
But Green's qualms extend beyond the Warriors being "Play-In magnets." He also believes the Play-In Tournament isn't fulfilling the purpose of its creation.
Advertisement
"I think it worked initially," Green said. "Now to have a team stuck in 10th, it ain't working. So we could have lost our last 15 games and still been stuck in 10th. It ain't working."
Green's "stuck in 10th" point refers to how the Warriors couldn't slip lower than the 10th seed, no matter how many games they lost, because all of the teams below them hit the eject button and began their respective tanks. And it's been that way for the Warriors since the All-Star Break, with teams like the Dallas Mavericks , Memphis Grizzlies , and so forth, having little interest in competing for a Play-In spot.
"Do you think that has more to do with the current tanking problem?" a reporter followed up with. Green responded, "Well, I think the play-in was made for teams to not tank."
A smile crept up Green's face, the one he makes when he knows the point he is making has some legs to it.
Advertisement
"I think that's the part that everyone forgets, like, the Play-In came about to make teams through 12 or 13 keep going. They ain't keep going, they slowed down. They hit the breaks. I saw a team tonight foul Seth Curry with three minutes to go in the game for no reason. In the penalty! It ain't working. But we want to make the playoffs so it works I guess."
Green questions how the NBA doles out fines
Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images
At this point in his post-game presser, Green was holding court. Like a guru or a sage emparting answers to enlightenment. In this case, the enlightenment of the NBA. So, with the ball rolling, another reporter asked if there was something Green's seen that he believes could fix the issue of tanking and the larger issues at play in the NBA right now.
Advertisement
Green thought quietly for a long moment before answering .
"I get fined when I do wrong," Green finally said. "Fine the hell out of people. We love taking money from players, keep fining the teams. I've seen two fines, and we all know everybody is tanking."
There was some personal venom seeping out of Green's answer. Over the course of his career, Green has lost over $1-milllion in league-issued fines and suspensions. The way the NBA disciplines Green is through his wallet. So in Green's mind, the league shouldn't discriminate in its method of punishment when it comes to teams deliberately tanking.
"Why isn't it the same?" Green asked the room. Not exactly a subtle challenge directed toward the NBA league office.
Advertisement
"Everybody love money. The punishment for players as always, 'Let's take the money.' Well, now it becomes time to punish teams, and all of a sudden, nobody knows what to do. We know exactly what to do when somebody get a technical foul or suspended for a game. We know exactly what to do. All of a sudden we got team issues. We don't know what to do."
"When it comes to player discipline, [we] want to snatch the money as fast as we can. [When it] come to team discipline, and we see 12 teams tanking, we've seen two fines. If my math serves me correctly. That's a 10 that ain't been fined. Just some quick math, could be wrong."
Even in a boring, meaningless game like this April Warriors-Kings duel, Draymond Green can find a way to make it interesting.
"But it's a players-led league," Green said sarcastically as he concluded his presser.
Related: Buddy Hield believes Pacers 'f****d up his money' with tanking strategy years ago
