Without the Warriors’ previously scheduled game against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night, Golden State Draymond Green had an opportunity to vent on social media.
The Warriors’ game in Denver was postponed because the Nuggets don’t have the required eight players necessary under league rules to compete. Green doesn’t feel like it’s fair that some teams, including the Warriors, have had to play with shorthanded lineups while some others can potentially play at full strength later in the season after a postponement.
“How do you continue to cancel games when you’ve implemented rules to prevent this from happening?” Green wrote. “Is that not a competitive advantage for other teams? The guys we didn’t have due to protocol list played no role in Tuesday’s loss? Pick a side but don’t straddle the fence.”
In a reply, forward Andre Iguodala seemed to agree with his teammate.
Because of injuries and COVID-19’s surge, teams have rarely been at full strength recently. Over 200 players have entered protocol in December.
On Tuesday, both the Warriors and the Nuggets had several players unavailable due to COVID-19. But both teams had enough healthy players and the game went on, with Denver winning 89-86.
It appears Green is upset with perceived inconsistencies with the league’s COVID rules.
Green thinks the Nuggets “got to sneak a win” on Tuesday and the postponement allows them to avoid a shorthanded situation many teams have had to deal with. He also noted the rescheduled game will likely come at the expense of a Warriors off day and could create a back-to-back.
Directly after the game was officially postponed, Green sent a string of eight tweets on the topic. He playfully chirped a Twitter user who said his take was a “rare W” and another who misunderstood his initial message.
Golden State is practicing in Denver instead of playing on Thursday night. The Warriors next play on Saturday against the Jazz in Utah.
