Draymond Green calls NBA to double standard of players and teams

Something was wrong with Draymond Green following the Warriors’ win over the Cavaliers on Monday night.

The Warriors took the win without having to face Cavs center Andre Drummond. Cleveland has benched Drummond as the team seeks a business partner for him. But rather than have him play during this time, the team believed, according to ESPN sources, “It is unfair for Drummond to limit his minutes when the organization moves to Jarrett Allen.”

Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff discussed the decision on Monday.

“Sometimes you are forced to take difficult positions that are not easy to navigate, but when it comes to Dre and all that he has done and accomplished and even though he has helped us, we thought it was was the right thing for him to do, ”Bickerstaff said.

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The Cavs’ decision to bench Drummond as they aim to trade him has frustrated Green, who spoke openly about it in his post-game press conference.

“I would like to talk about something that is really bothering me. And that is the treatment of players in this league,” Green said. “Watch André Drummond, before the game, sit on the sidelines, then go to the back, and go out in street clothes because a team is going to exchange him, they are bulls….

“Because when James Harden called for a trade, and he basically held his own, no one is going to fight back that James was having his last days in Houston, but he was neutered for wanting to go to a different team. Everyone destroyed this man. And yet a team can come out and say, ‘Oh, we want to swap a guy’, and then this guy has to go and sit down, and if he doesn’t stay professional, then he’s cancer. And it is not good in someone. locker room, and that’s the problem. “

Green isn’t the first to talk about double standards, not just in the NBA, but in sport in general. Almost every time a player requests a trade there is criticism from fans and sports analysts berating the player for simply wanting to find a better situation. But when teams want to move players, it’s “just for business.”

The Warriors star continued his thoughts on the double standard.

“And we see situations where Harrison Barnes gets taken off the bench,” Green said. “Or DeMarcus Cousins ​​finding out he exchanged an interview after the All-Star Game, and we continue to let that happen. But I was fined for expressing my opinion on what I thought was happening. ‘It should be with another player, but the teams can come out and keep saying, “Oh, we’re swapping guys, we’re not playing you.” And yet we have to stay professional.

“At some point, as players, we have to be treated with the same respect. And have the same rights that the team can have. Because as a player you are the worst person in the world when you want a different situation. But a team can say they’re trading you. And this man has to stay in shape, he has to stay professional. And if not, his career is on the line. At some point this league has to protect players from embarrassment like that. “

Green mentioned a few other examples, such as when Anthony Davis was fined after Agent Rich Paul publicly requested a trade (Green says $ 100,000, but it was actually $ 50,000). He also touched on Kyrie Irving’s absence earlier in the season.

“We’re talking all this stuff about, ‘You can’t do that, you can’t say it publicly,'” Green said. “If you say that publicly … Anthony Davis has been fined $ 100,000 or something like that for demanding a trade, but you can say Andre Drummond is traded publicly and we’re looking to trade him publicly, and he has to stay professional. and just do with it?

“And then when Kyrie Irving says, ‘Oh, my sanity is bad,’ everyone goes crazy about it too. Don’t you think it affects someone mentally? As much as we put into this game to be awesome, to come here and be fit, produce for the fans every night, and most of all, help your team win, do you think that doesn’t affect someone mentally? “

Green’s comments were greeted mainly by positive comments from other NBA players, active and former, on social media.

Green ended with some final thoughts.

“As players we are told, ‘Ah, no you can’t say that, you can’t say that,’” said Green. “But teams can? It goes along the same lines as when everyone’s like, ‘Ah, man, that young man can’t understand that.’ But nobody’s saying the organization can’t figure it out. At some point the players have to be respected in these situations, and that’s ridiculous, and I’m sick of it. You’re having a good night. I will see you all [Tuesday] or Wednesday. “