As his home arena gets set to host the 2025 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green made some head-turning comments about the state of the league on Saturday.
In an interview with Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, the outspoken veteran was asked if he thought the NBA game was boring, to which he replied: “Absolutely.”
Per Reynolds, Green referred to a past interview with the late Kobe Bryant — in which the Los Angeles Lakers legend called the game “accidental basketball” — during his chat with the AP NBA writer.
Bryant had said that the NBA was “all penetrate and pitch,” concluding “you may make the shot, you may not.”
“He couldn’t have been more right,” the 34-year-old said, according to Reynolds. “Every possession is some type of chess move. … You don’t get that today in the NBA, often. … You don’t just get that on a regular basis. It’s just who can run faster, who can hit more 3s. It’s no substance. I think it’s very boring.”
Green Doesn’t Want Warriors to Play an ‘Accidental Game’
Green cited a recent contest between the Warriors and Lakers, calling the competition “refreshing” to play on the court with, what Reynolds called a “thinker” in LeBron James. The writer argued that King James is “notorious for finding weaknesses and exploiting them.”
Furthermore, Reynolds said that the “run-and-shoot-all-the-time game isn’t exactly the preferred game plan” for Golden State.
“You want to be one of the teams that aren’t playing an accidental game,” Green said. “That’s the challenge.”
Victor Wembanyama Begs to Differ, At Least in One Part of Argument
The 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year made three straight All-Star teams from 2015-18 and earned his fourth during the 2021-22 campaign. Green hasn’t been a part of the festivities since then, however.
Arguably the most notable first-time All-Star for Sunday is San Antonio Spurs second-year center Victor Wembanyama.
“Wemby” was chosen as an All-Star starter and had a slightly different take on the state of the game, at least when it comes to the increasingly high number of three-pointers in most contests.
“Defense has to catch up, and maybe NBA teams will shoot less 3s,” Wembanyama said, per Reynolds.
“On the one hand, the NBA is about to enter a new series of broadcast and streaming deals that will generate at least $76 billion, about three times more than the last deal — so interest still obviously exists. Player salaries are bigger than ever, the league keeps setting attendance record, and merchandise keeps flying off shelves,” Reynolds wrote. “But the NBA keeps hearing the question about the on-court product. And Green is among those that think issues exist.”
The Association’s weekend slate of events will culminate with the All-Star Game on Sunday night. The brand-new format for the main showcase will feature a “mini-tournament with four teams and three games,” according to NBA.com.
“Two teams will meet in one semifinal (Game 1), and the remaining two teams will meet in the other semifinal (Game 2). The winning teams from Game 1 and Game 2 will advance to face each other in the championship (Game 3). For each game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 40 points.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Draymond Green Blasts ‘Very Boring’ NBA Ahead of All-Star Game appeared first on Heavy Sports.