Some players, like Steph Curry, will be on the golf course as soon as the NBA season ends. Others hit the beach in places like Cabo for some much-needed rest and relaxation.
Draymond Green is making use of his downtime like only he can: getting into a podcast beef.
In the other corner: Austin Rivers, the retired 11-year vet and son of longtime coach Doc Rivers.
On the latest episode of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” the Warriors star called out Rivers for “getting the biggest bailout in U.S. history prior to President Trump bailing out the airlines,” referencing the $35 million extension he signed in 2016 with the Clippers, who were run by his father at the time.
Rivers clapped back on Instagram, taking a not-so-subtle shot at Green’s friendship with Lakers star LeBron James. “I think you maybe hang around your big bro (we all know who I am talking about) and you maybe start to think you him,” Rivers wrote.
The feud began when Rivers took issue with comments Green made on a previous podcast. Green, who has built a Hall of Fame resume on defense and dishing assists to Curry, said playing for coach Steve Kerr had “hindered” his career by sacrificing his scoring ability.
Rivers, in an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” called Green’s comments “ridiculous” and said “it bewilders me that he even thinks like this,” citing his high basketball IQ and utility in Kerr’s system.
Rivers also said Green had “never been a scorer.”
The clip apparently made its way into Green’s orbit, and he felt the need to respond. Green, the 35th overall pick in the 2012 draft, could famously recite every player picked ahead of him.
“I don’t like to get in these back-and-forths,” he said. “I just find it interesting that a guy who was the 10th pick in my draft — I was 35 — who’s on his second act — I’m still on Act 1 — would say such things.”
Green went on to compare their scoring figures in high school, “and I say high school because that’s when you were at your best. That’s when Austin Rivers was Austin Rivers.”
Green, who just completed his 14th season, took issue with Rivers weighing in on his accomplishments in the NBA. Rivers averaged 8.5 points for seven teams over 11 seasons.
“Sometimes you just should not say something,” Green said. “Everything isn’t something you should speak on. I don’t really think that was one for Austin Rivers to be bewildered about, say it’s ridiculous.”
Rivers acknowledged that he doesn’t have the same NBA credentials as the four-time champion and former Defensive Player of the Year. He said he was being “highly complimentary” in his initial response, but that Green crossed the line by “belittl[ing] me and my father for no damn reason.”
“You need to fall back, Dray,” Rivers added in an attached video. “Let’s just be frenemies.”
