OAKLAND–Joel Embiid isn’t afraid to stir the pot, and neither is Draymond Green.
Naturally, the pair would make excellent antagonists, serving as villains when the 76ers and Warriors square off against each other like they did on Saturday night.
But while Embiid said Friday he told Green he was “going to kick his ass,” Green indicated after the Warriors’ 135-114 victory that he has nothing but love for Philadelphia’s young center.
“That was fun,” Green said. “He’s one of the guys who I watched play and one of my favorite things is when he gets a foul on a guy, I didn’t like it tonight, he got the first foul on Zaza and was like, ‘He gonna foul out.’ I love when he draws fouls on guys and he looks at the bench like, ‘Hey, get him out the game. Get them out the game.’ I mean, that’s how I grew up playing the game. He is all of that so I enjoy it. He said a little bit tonight, I’m expecting, we talked after the game, I’m expecting a little more words when they’re at home next week and it should be fun, though.”
Late in the first quarter, Warriors’ star Kevin Durant drove into the lane and drew a foul from Embiid, who immediately began barking in Durant’s face. Durant decided to talk right back to Embiid, and almost immediately, the duo received technical fouls.
After the game on Saturday, Green explained why he thought neither player should have been reprimanded for their actions, and why he feels the game needs more interactions like the one Durant and Embiid shared in the first quarter.
KD and Embiid with some beef pic.twitter.com/NRa48VNfOd
— KNBR (@KNBR) November 12, 2017
“When he and K (Durant) started barking at each other, I don’t understand how that’s a double technical,” Green said. “That’s basketball. I think the fans want to see that. For instance, when me and Dennis Smith said our words earlier in the season. The referee let us talk and we continued on in the game and like, double tech for that, I don’t understand that. At the end of the day, it’s basketball and that’s entertainment and it’s entertainment. It’s not like they’re disrespecting the game, they’re disrespecting each other. In each other’s faces barking. They’re saying something, then walking out of the way. That’s basketball. Why won’t you let that happen? That makes the game more fun. It hypes those two guys up, makes those two guys go at each other even more. Then the game gets better, it gets more interesting. I’m a big fan of it. I’m a fan of the way he plays, the way he carries himself. The talking and all of that. I like it. I think more guys should be that way.”
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