Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors fully expected to take on the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
That potentially epic matchup never came to fruition after the Oklahoma City Thunder upset San Antonio in six games in the Western Conference Semifinals.
This doesn’t mean that Green, who is coming off his first career All-Star appearance, only has the Thunder on his mind.
The always chirpy power forward recently spoke about Spurs big man Tim Duncan in the most glowing of terms, indicating that he learned early in his career not to talk trash to the future Hall of Famer:
“I do have a Tim Duncan story. My rookie year I kind of talked junk to everybody. In the middle of the game I started talking to Tim, and I had already got into it with somebody on their team. I don’t remember who it was,” Green said, via ESPN. “But I started talking to Tim and he kind of just stared at me. I just kept talking junk to him and he kept staring at me.”
Duncan is among the most-respected players in the history of the Association. More than his talent on the court, the 15-time All-Star is known for his cool-headed mentality and even-keeled MO.
See, Duncan is the antithesis of Green. He rarely gets hot on the court, and practically never talks trash. On the other hand, the underrated Warriors big man is known to be the best trash talker in the NBA.
Just not when it comes to going at it with Duncan:
“At that point I realized during the rest of my career that I might as well not talk to him,” Green continued. “Either, one, he is not going to talk back because he has no respect for me. Or, two, he is not going to talk back because that is who he is. Or, three, both. I figured then that was the last time I would talk junk to Tim. And that was the last time.”
This seems to be the ultimate respect paid to Duncan from Green. It also just goes to show us how Duncan can be intimidating in his own way when on the court.
As Green continues to prove himself on the court, it appears that Duncan’s career is coming to an end at some point soon. It remains to be seen whether the big man will return for a 19th season, but age has finally caught up to the 40-year-old.
In no way does this mean Green will start talking trash. Apparently, his mother taught him to respect his elders.