The San Antonio Spurs continue to catch heat for not properly conceding their loss to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.
Victor Wembanyama and Co. stormed off the court after their series-ending 94-90 loss in Game 4 last Saturday, for which they were widely criticized.
On Monday, Draymond Green doubled down on his criticism of the Spurs, going as far as to suggest that the young team “lacked a leader” and it showed in their demeanour after losing the NBA Finals to the Knicks.
“I would have loved for the Spurs players to be there for them to shake [the Knicks’] hands. They walked off. That was disappointing, a bit disappointing,” Green said on his podcast, via NBC Sports Bay Area.
Warriors Star Rips ‘Disrespectful’ Spurs
The four-time NBA champion added that the young Spurs had “a lot to learn” from Jalen Brunson, whose first instinct was to congratulate Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson even as the rest of his teammates celebrated their ultimate triumph.
“To see [the Spurs] walk off the court, it was disheartening. I’ll blame it on youth,” Green added. “I’ll blame it on lacking the leader to show them that ‘hey, this is what you do. Not walk off.’ I blame it on that.
“There’s a way to win and there’s a way to lose. And walking off the court, not looking your killer in his eyes, ain’t the way to lose…I hate it. I hate when people do it. And I hated to see those young Spurs do it because I actually think they’re capable of doing something special.”
Per multiple reports, Luke Kornet and Harrison Barnes were the only two Spurs who remained on the court to pay their respects to their Knicks counterparts, while the rest of the Spurs walked off into the tunnel. Green urged the Spurs to do right by Brunson, the NBA Finals MVP, and make amends after their disrespectful walk-off.
“I would urge those young Spurs [to] reach out to Jalen Brunson however you can,” he said. “Reach out to Karl-Anthony Towns however you can. Reach out to Josh Hart, however you can. You tell [those] dudes ‘congratulations.’”
Victor Wembanyama ‘Lacked Humility’
Knicks announcer Alan Hahn joined the chorus of critics in ripping Wemby for lacking “humility” after his team lost 4-1 to the Knicks.
“He lacked humility,” Hahn said of Wemby on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Monday.
“He’ll learn. But one thing he also needs to learn from all this is to acknowledge the opponent. He walked off the floor after he was taught how to win by Jalen Brunson and the Knicks,” added Hahn, who called the NBA Finals for ESPN NY and MSG Network.
“One day, he’s going to win a championship — I’m going to say that with confidence, he’s going to win a championship one day, maybe more. And when he does, I hope at that moment he realizes: ‘I learned how to win by losing to that team and that guy.’”
In his exit news conference, Wemby vowed to use the lessons of the “painful” NBA Finals loss to “fuel” him for next season. The Spurs are co-favorites to win the N BA title next season, with oddsmakers expecting them to make another deep run.
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