Ex-NBA wing rips Draymond Green for saying Rudy Gobert ‘sucks’ on national TV

Former NBA player Eddie Johnson is taking Draymond Green to task after the Golden State Warriors star dragged his feud with Rudy Gobert in front of a national TV audience following the Minnesota Timberwolves’ heartbreaking loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of the 2024 Western Conference Finals.

With the Warriors long out of the NBA postseason after getting eliminated in the play-in round, Green has time to serve as an analyst for TNT’s studio coverage of the Western Conference Finals. During the postgame show following Game 2, which Luka Doncic won with a late 3-point shot while being defended by Gobert, Green replied to the crowd’s derisive chants directed toward him with the response, “Rudy sucks, not me.”

Back in November, Green put Gobert in a chokehold during an altercation in a game between the Warriors and Timberwolves. Afterward, Gobert repeatedly referred to Green’s actions as “clown behavior.” The Warriors player was suspended by the NBA for five games, with the Timberwolves star fined $25,000 by the league. Green later did not express regret, saying he was defending teammate Klay Thompson, who was involved in a tussle with Timberwolves player Jaden McDaniels.

Earlier this month, Gobert was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth time in his career. However, during these playoffs, his defense has at times been called into question, first while he tried to guard Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets in Minnesota’s second-round series victory and now with his failure to stop Doncic from making his game-winning shot on Friday.

Green, at times, has seemed resentful of the DPOY awards Gobert has garnered and likely was relishing being inside the arena as Dallas took a 2-0 series lead by winning its second straight road game at Minnesota.

Green and Gobert have a long history of animosity that festered on social media before spilling into mild violence on the court this season. It will be interesting to see if Gobert can respond and get his team back into its current series as the Timberwolves try to reach the 2024 NBA Finals — and how Green will clap back if he actually is successful.