Last month, Victor Wembanyama committed to his long-term future in Texas by agreeing to a massive five-year, $252 million maximum rookie-scale contract extension. But the reigning unanimous Defensive Player of the Year took a pay cut to give his franchise maximum financial flexibility. Draymond Green, who has long been against superstars making financial sacrifices, once again shared his blunt opinion.

It was two years ago when Draymond Green criticized Jalen Brunson for leaving $113 million on the table. The Warriors star even said that if the Knicks won the championship, it would put pressure on other stars, like Wembanyama, to make similar sacrifices.

“The New York Knicks go and win a championship,” Green said on his podcast. “And when they win that championship, the superstar of the team they beat, one of the premier faces of the NBA today, Victor Wembanyama, then goes and takes less.

“Easier to sell that guy on taking less when the guy he just lost to in the Finals took less. So this thing starts to trigger all around. Now granted, Wemby’s in San Antonio, so what’s also going to be sold to him is: ‘Tim Duncan and they took less, you do this so we can win.’

“So when I made my statement, that’s what I’m saying, and you see the trickle-down effect of it. So responding to a two-year-old comment that comment actually aged gracefully, because look, everybody’s taking less. Everybody.”

Rather than signing a 30% max extension, Victor Wembanyama accepted a standard 25% rookie-scale max, effectively leaving about $51 million on the table over the next five years. The move was clearly designed to give the Spurs maximum financial flexibility as they look to build a championship contender around their franchise cornerstone.

“We have a good team, we had a very good playoff run, and we had a very good regular season,” Victor Wembanyama explained his sacrifice to The Athletic’s Jason Jones. “But what’s even better and greater is our potential. The reality of today’s NBA is that often, the potential of teams is not fulfilled because of money. I just want to make sure it’s never our case.”

According to Green, star players shouldn’t sacrifice salary just to help their teams manage the salary cap. If a team exceeds the NBA’s second apron, the owner must pay significant financial penalties, making it an expensive proposition.

“It’s the New York Knicks, bro,” Green had stated then. “They can afford it. You ain’t got to take no discount. My situation is different because Steph making $270 million, Klay making $180 million. All right, something got to give. Cool. I can take a less. He the top guy.

“Let Josh Hart or somebody else take less. They in my role. Guess what, Steph Curry ain’t take a penny less. And neither did Klay Thompson ain’t take a penny less. I don’t know what he doing. That’s $100 million.”

The Warriors star believed Brunson made the wrong decision by taking a pay cut. Green argued that once the Knicks star sacrificed money to help build a championship-caliber roster, it created an expectation for the league’s next generation of superstars to do the same. Now, in an effort to help restore the Spurs as title contenders, Victor Wembanyama has followed Brunson’s path.