CLEVELAND — As the Cavaliers finished an excruciating fourth quarter, and as the Warriors cruised to another NBA Finals win, tempers boiled, escalating this Golden State-Cleveland rivalry even further.
With 2:42 left in the game, Draymond Green set a screen on LeBron James, and the two burly forwards became tangled up. James proceeded to step over Green. In turn, Green got up off his feet, struck his hand near LeBron’s groin and charged straight for the King’s face. The pair had a heated verbal exchange, the officials reviewed the play and both were charged with fouls.
And neither star player was willing to apologize afterwards.
“You’re not just going to step over me. There’s many routes you can take. Don’t just step over me like that,” Green told NBA TV after the 108-87 win. “We had our words and it is what it is. I don’t care who you are: I’m not going to back down from you. It is what it is, we can do whatever needs to be done.”
Charles Barkley sided with Draymond.
“That is the most disrespectful thing you can do to a player,” the broadcaster said.
LeBron recollected a different version of the events at the podium.
“You know, Draymond just said something that I don’t agree with,” James explained. “I’m all cool with the competition. I’m all fine with that, but some of the words that came out of his mouth were a little bit overboard, and being a guy with pride, a guy with three kids and a family, things of that nature, some things just go overboard and that’s where he took it, and that was it.”
And what about that punch to the groin? Could Green get suspended for it?
“It’s not my call. That’s the league office,” James said. “They’ll take a look at it. We all saw it in the locker room. You know, like I said, as a competitor, I love going against Draymond, and I’m all about going out there and leaving it out on the floor. But when it gets a little bit more than what it should be, that’s what caused me to have words with him.”
It’s such a rarity to see LeBron lose his cool — ever. Then again, there is no one better in the NBA at getting underneath an opponent’s skin like Draymond Green. There will be an outcry for a Green suspension, given that he’s repeatedly struck an opposing player in the private parts.
At the end of the day basketball fans win in this little clash. LeBron vs. Draymon only makes this rivalry more polarizing and fierce.
