Home

NBA

Ex-Warriors Star Proposes “NBA Grudge Match” Between Draymond Green and Tristan Thompson: “I’m Buying That Ticket”

Published 12/18/2023, 1:55 PM EST

Follow Us

USA Today via Reuters

Draymond Green‘s behavioral issues on the court are not something new we are witnessing. Throughout his career, he has managed to craft a reputation laced with ejections and suspensions thanks to his hotheadedness. This season alone, DrayMagic has been ejected three times and suspended for two.

The first suspension was a result of holding the Wolves‘ center, Rudy Gobert, in a headlock. Nearly a month after receiving this five-game suspension, the league gave Dray an indefinite suspension after knocking the Suns‘ Jusuf Nurkić to the ground during a tussle for position. But this isn’t the first season we’re witnessing all of this. Dray’s history goes back to way beyond. One such incident is vividly spoken about even today. The on-court altercation between Tristan Thompson and Draymond Green. And Dray’s recent reactions led the Warriors legend Kwame Brown, revisit it for a rather hilarious observation.

Brown is up for a Draymond fight show

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Sharing his thoughts on his Kwame Brown Bust Life podcast, Brown is amused, to say the least; he finds it funny that Dray loses money for fighting “when he can go get paid millions of dollars for fighting,” in other combat sports. Brown goes on to suggest a redeeming match between Dray and Tristan Thompson. This scuffle dates back to five years ago.

“NBA Grudge match: Draymond Green versus Tristan Thompson yeah man I’m coming, I’m buying that ticket, I promise,” he continues, referring to the heated exchange between the two during Game 1 of the 2018 Finals, which resulted in Thompson getting ejected from the game.

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest NBA stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

Big man Brown is all for seeing Draymond fight someone and is even willing to pay money to see it go down. “I’ll go get a ticket to see Draymond Green fight somebody. Hell yeah, I’m going buy a ticket.” Nevertheless, there has to be more to the Draymond and Thompson fight match that Brown is talking about; let’s take a look at what really went down between the two.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

What was the Draymond-Thompson beef about?

It was towards the last minutes of Game 1 in the 2018 NBA finals; the Warriors won the game against the Cavaliers in OT. However, in the final moments of the game, Thompson was ejected after committing a flagrant 2 foul against Dub Nation’s guard, Shaun Livingston. Draymond, who was rarely on good terms with Thompson, applauded at his ejection, in a way of taunting him.

Upon seeing this, Thompson wasn’t having any of it and shoved the ball into DrayMagic’s face. You guessed it, the teammates had to step in to separate the two and diffuse the situation. Moreover, after Game 4, the teams shook hands to conclude the game; Dray refused to shake hands with Thompson.

Dub Nation Demands “Gangster” Draymond Green to Get It Together

Shortly after in July, word emerged that Thompson had punched Dray at a party hosted by LeBron. Although this has been denied by Thompson and hasn’t been proven to be true, we can assume the existing hostility between the two. Now, Kwame’s “Grudge Match” makes more sense if we think about it.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Tsuktibenla T Jamir

395Articles

One take at a time

Tsuktibenla T Jamir is an NBA author at EssentiallySports. Armed with a Masters in Journalism from the prestigious Delhi School of Journalism, this Nagaland native combines her academic prowess with her passion for the game to craft compelling narratives that bring the NBA to life. She finds immense joy in dissecting the journeys of the athletes who make the game larger than life.
Show More>

Edited by:

Saumya Khanduja