When any sports personality reaches the top, the media should praise them. However, sometimes, they start going after their flaws. That is exactly what is happening with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander right now. The man has won back-to-back MVPs. But all everyone talks about is the foul calls.

Three weeks ago, Draymond Green had already said his piece about this. Standing in front of reporters, he delivered a blunt verdict on the foul-baiting discourse. “If you can’t f**king beat ‘em, shut up,” he said. The conversation didn’t stop. So he went to the podcast.

Before Game 7, Green turned his attention to the sports media. He did not blame the refs, or the league, or even the San Antonio Spurs. He aimed his shot at the reporters. The problem, as he sees it, is that they have forgotten how to watch basketball.

“Sports media f—ing sucks,” he said. “No one talks basketball anymore. No one knows basketball anymore because the sh** is just moving too fast. And so we want to pinpoint the thing that we can slow down, Shai’s falling, Shai’s at the free-throw line.”

Draymond Green had already acknowledged the truth underneath the debate publicly.

“Yes, Shai does sell fouls. Yes, Lu Dort does some bulls**t. Yes, yes, yes, yes. All of that is true. Oh, well.”

The admission made his podcast argument much sharper. He is not saying the media is completely wrong. He is mad because he thinks that the media had reduced a two-time MVP’s playoff run to a single talking point.

“He’s a damn good player,” Green said.

“He’s reached a new level of greatness because you have sports media heads coming out and talking about what they don’t like about his greatness. Imagine that.”

Green then mocked the idea that the league lacks integrity. He made the whole debate sound like a joke

“As if SGA is running up and down the court with the whistle in his mouth, calling the foul for himself,” he said. “Or we can just act like the complete integrity of the NBA is all off and they’re just calling fouls for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The NBA ain’t got no integrity, they’re just calling fouls for one guy.”

He then immediately demolished that theory with basic facts. He noted the top star on the Spurs shot nearly as many free throws. 

The Wider Picture Green Is Pointing to Regarding Gilgeous-Alexander

Green knows the media well. During the golden days of the Golden State Warriors, people constantly claimed the Warriors got away with illegal screens. Fans used the whistle as an excuse for losing. Now, the four-time NBA champion is seeing the same pattern with the Thunder.

Still, big NBA stars complain about unfair calls. Devin Booker called out the refs after the Suns lost in the first round. Lakers players even met with referees after dropping Game 2. Green saw a clear pattern in this. He said it all means the same thing. Losing teams just use the refs to make excuses.

It happens so often in the playoffs. It no longer looks like a real problem. It just looks like a reflex. Players lose to someone too good to stop without fouling. Then, they complain.

The numbers Green didn’t cite are worth adding. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has shot 137 free throws in the postseason, the most of any player, but Wembanyama is in the top five with 108. That gap is very normal for a long playoff series. Yet, this minor difference sparked endless TV debates and wild rumors.

It even caused a weird legal threat over a board game. The main focus heading into Game 7 has almost nothing to do with the game.

Green closed with a challenge. He directed it at his own audience as well as at the media.

“Maybe we can just appreciate greatness,” he said. “And what Shai is showing and what he’s doing and what he’s capable of.”

Game 7 tips off Saturday night in Oklahoma City, and the only argument that will settle this one doesn’t happen on a podcast.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​