Let nothing in the world fool you into believing that Draymond Green would be any different this season. The 35-year-old Golden State Warriors veteran already picked up a technical foul seven minutes into his season debut against the Lakers on opening night. And on Monday, a flagrant foul awaited him as he pulled down the Memphis Grizzlies’ Santi Aldama by his neck. A typical day at work for Draymond, another “dirty” play by the legend, yes.

Meanwhile, what followed the incident was chaos, not surprising indeed. Aldama rolled on the floor, holding his neck in pain. Green looked down at him and said, “That’s soft a f—”. The Grizzlies’ big man, Jaren Jackson Jr., then intervened, only to hear the veteran say “Shut up” in return. Undoubtedly, Draymond’s bunny hops after Memphis’ missed free throws only heated up the moment. But now, as the dust settles and the scene awaits the next matchup, Green knows he has to clear the buzz and the air around the matter soon.

Addressing the matter on The Draymond Green Show, the namesake said, “I know everybody just wanted to hear about the Aldama situation. He’s a guy who always talks every time we play him. He talks; he likes to mix it up a bit. I’m all for mixing it up a bit, but what I don’t like is guys that talk and act like they want to mix it up. Then you get a little baby foul, and you fall out, grabbing your neck, grabbing your head like he did. I just disagree with fronting like that.” 

Green unabashedly called out Santi Aldama for pretending to be tough but exaggerating contact to draw fouls. He believes that kind of behavior is fake and ruins respect among players. To him, real toughness means standing your ground, not acting for calls. “It’s almost like you just sold your soul for two free throws. You just laid out on the floor rolling like you did just to get up and walk to the bench and walk to the free-throw line,” Draymond Green continued. “What happens is you lose all respect. Now you’re a sucker, and we can’t unsucker you because you just acted like a complete clown. You listened to some dumb a– coach telling you when he fouls you, sell it.”

Memphis head coach Tuomas Iisalo nearly lost his cool, forcing his staff to jump in before the sideline tension spilled onto the court. This, for Green, doesn’t fit right. “Now you’ve got to play while everybody is looking at you like a sucker. That brother went from a plus 15 to ending the game at a plus two after he did that sucker s—,” the former DPOY added. “I always tell guys, don’t ever play like you’re a sucker. Once you play like a sucker, guess what you are? You’re a sucker, and there ain’t no unsucking you either.”

In simple words, Santi Aldama made a “clown” of himself, according to Green. “He made a complete clown of himself, and I also made a clown of him when he missed them two free throws. You can’t fall out like that and then go missing two free throws, kid.” Now, Draymond Green couldn’t end the conversation without talking about the things that went down between him and Jaren Jackson Jr. You see, both NBA stars from Michigan State have nothing but love and respect for each other. However, when their team needs them most, they ignite and turn the moment into pure fire.

Draymond Green has no hard feelings for Jaren Jackson Jr. after the heated moment

Jaren Jackson Jr. rushed to the floor to check on Santi Aldama after Draymond Green pulled him down. In the heat of the moment, he said something to the 4x NBA champ. Well, one might think that would’ve worked up Dray, but as unfazed as he stood, “SHUT UP! SHUT THE F— UP! SHUT UP” was his response.

Now, Green said, “Everybody saw me get into it with my young fella Jaren Jackson. We didn’t really get into it, but Jaren really pissed me off. As y’all know, that’s my young Spartan dawg. It ain’t no hard feelings, no love lost”. He added, “I would never say anything crazy, disrespectful to him like I was saying to Aldama because that’s my young fella. I did tell Jaren to shut up because you come to the rescue of a clown. You’re a Spartan dog. We don’t rescue suckers. We stay sucker free. So I had to get that straight a little bit.”

Draymond Green walked off the court the same way he entered it: unfiltered and unapologetic. The chaos, the words, the fire, all part of his nature. He speaks his truth even if it burns. The lines between villain and hero blur when he steps in, yet that’s where he thrives. Love him or hate him, he keeps the league alive, leaving everyone waiting for the next spark to fly. Maybe the next rematch against the Grizzlies? Who knows?