The Warriors’ Draymond Green didn’t hold back when voicing his opinion on Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama.
During Green’s podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” he didn’t hesitate to call out Wembanyama and European players’ play style as “dirty.”
“Victor Wembanyama is a great player. Victor Wembanyama is a European player. And I’ve been on record for saying European players are dirty,” Green said. “… They are a bit dirty. It’s why beating France in France was such a big deal. Europeans want to own our game, and they are a bit dirty.”
Recently, Wembanyama has caught NBA fans‘ attention after some questionable moves he’s made throughout the NBA Finals against the Knicks.
Wembanyama received a flagrant foul 1 for elbowing Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns in the face during the third quarter of Game 4 on Wednesday. Assuming the foul isn’t overturned, he will be one flagrant foul away from being suspended for a game.
Wembanyama received two flagrant foul points when he elbowed Timberwolves forward Naz Reid in the jaw during game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals.
NBA rules dictate that if a player accumulates four flagrant foul points, they are to be suspended for a game.
The Spurs trail the Knicks, 3-1, and if they manage to pull off a comeback Saturday against the Knicks, they will need their star player for the rest of the NBA Finals.
Ironically, Green has been called out in the past as being labeled a dirty player. On his podcast, he acknowledged those accusations but belittled them and said he is someone who will “F— you up.”
“I’m not dirty,” Green said. “It’s a completely different thing. And I don’t think anyone I play against will tell you, ‘Man, he’s dirty.’ I ain’t dirty. That’s a different thing. I will mess you up, though.”
As Wembanyama is looking to avoid another flagrant foul, Green has been in similar situations before, as he was forced to miss Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals after he received a flagrant 1 call for taking a swipe at LeBron James.
As someone who has missed an NBA Finals game due to maxing out on flagrant fouls during the NBA playoffs, Green said he hopes the NBA lets Wembanyama stay in the series if he receives another foul.
“Listen, I’m not one that wants to see series decided by suspensions,” Green said. “That’s not good for anyone. Brings a lot of questions, brings a lot of what-ifs. I don’t enjoy that. I will say he’s been shown a lot of grace.”