The Golden State Warriors will be without Draymond Green for Game 5 of the NBA Finals, as the Warriors All-Star was issued his fourth flagrant foul of the playoffs.
Talking about the altercation between Green and LeBron James that led to the flagrant, Green’s teammate and fellow All-Star Klay Thompson threw a little shade LeBron’s way.
"I guess his feelings just got hurt," said Klay Thompson on trash talking in regards to LeBron James.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 12, 2016
The entire interview can be seen on NBA TV.
Klay Thompson reacts to Draymond Green's Game 5 suspension… https://t.co/ols1RftuQi
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 12, 2016
After Friday’s game, James implied that Green had crossed a line with what he said. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin later reported on what the “trigger word” of the altercation was.
According to a source familiar with the spat between LeBron James and Draymond Green, the trigger word was DG calling James a "b*tch"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) June 11, 2016
Not to justify Green’s words, but LeBron opens himself up for ridicule if this is really what bothered him.
Profanity is commonplace on an NBA court. When watching an NBA game, how many times does the audio shut off for a few seconds with the censors picking up some bad words?
It seems to happen at least a few times per game.
While that word is offensive, LeBron having such a hard time with it is hard to believe, given how long he’s been in the NBA. Remember, he used to do battle on a near annual basis with the Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett led Boston Celtics, who were certainly not above using vulgar trash talk.
It seems more likely that LeBron’s frustration stemmed from having Game 4 gradually slip away and he used Draymond’s trash talk as the red herring.