Saturday’s marquee matchup saw the Golden State Warriors dominate the Phoenix Suns in a nail-biting 113-112 victory. Yet, it was the heated exchange between Draymond Green and Jusuf Nurkic that stole the spotlight. This marked their first encounter since Green’s return from an “indefinite suspension” stemming from an incident where he struck Nurkic in the face on December 12th. Right from the onset of the game, tensions flared as the two engaged in physical play and exchanged verbal jabs. Their rivalry even spilled over into post-game press conferences and social media.

As a condition for his reinstatement, Green was required to undergo counseling and demonstrate to both his team and the league that he had addressed and improved his behavior. However, Nurkic contends that despite these efforts, DrayMagic’s conduct hasn’t improved much since their previous encounter.

“It’s sad. He (Green) didn’t learn anything, man. Just a matter of time, he’s going to knock somebody else again. Take everything back what I said. He don’t deserve a chance,” remarked Nurkic in a post-game presser.

And if we know anything about Dray, it is that he is not the one to hold back. Although he managed to maintain his composure during the post-game conference, he responded to Nurkic through his Instagram activity.

He said in his story, “What did I do to not deserve a chance? Severely outplay you? I should’ve hopped on @draymondshow tonight. This is madness.” He then went on to tag Shaquille O’Neal and The Big Podcast by Shaq.

Read More: “Funny How Refs Didn’t See That”: Stephen Curry Destroys Jusuf Nurkic’s “Idiotic” Whines About Draymond Green

Considering that he tagged Shaq and his podcast, we might soon get an episode on the matter. However, we’ll have to wait a little longer as Shaq wraps up his commitments related to Super Bowl events in Las Vegas. But why did Draymond Green ask for The Big Aristotle’s help?

Shaq defended Draymond Green’s actions

Well, it’s because Shaq was one of the few people who believed Green’s side of the story during his first altercation with Nurkic. When the entire world was ripping Green apart, claiming that he needed help, Shaquille O’Neal disagreed with that narrative.

According to the TNT analyst, Green has always been that way and has not been behaving any differently than he did throughout his career. “There is nothing wrong with Draymond. Y’all treating him like he’s crazy. He’s not crazy. He’s been playing like this the whole time,” said Shaq on the Rich Eisen Show.

In another interview, Shaq justified Green’s actions with the reasoning that Green had no intentions of hitting Nurkic and was just trying to “spin around.” He said on TMZ Live, “I don’t think Draymond said, ‘Hey, I’m going to punch this guy just ’cause he’s pulling my jersey’. He was just trying to spin around… He is an honest player, and what happened was unfortunate. I would give him two games (suspension).”

What are your thoughts on Saturday night’s on-court altercation involving Green and Nurkic? Who do you think was in the wrong? Let us know in the comments!

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