Draymond Green and Stephen A. Smith Say They’ve Lost Respect for Each Other

Draymond Green and Stephen A. Smith are no strangers to controversy, often finding themselves in the spotlight for their outspoken and sometimes unpopular opinions. While they haven’t clashed publicly before, that might be changing soon.

Recently, Draymond Green appeared on Shaquille O’Neal’s podcast, where he expressed his frustration with Stephen A. Smith. Green discussed his tumultuous season, which included multiple incidents of physical contact with opponents, leading to a lengthy suspension and mandatory counseling. Smith was among the media members who criticized Green, suggesting he had serious issues—a stance that upset Green due to his personal relationship with Smith.

“He hit me up and said, ‘Yo, it’s been hard for us to talk about you these past few days,'” Green recounted. “Okay, it’s been hard for me to watch, but I’m watching because I want to see everything that everybody had to say. But what pissed me off is you tell me it’s been hard for y’all to talk about me. Stephen A., anytime I meet someone and they say something about you, it’s never like, ‘Yo, I like him. He’s cool.’ It’s always like, ‘Man, f*&* that dude, he’s a character, he’s this, he’s that.’ And I always say back, ‘I actually know the guy. The guy is actually a cool dude. You can take from that from the TV screen, I actually know the guy. He’s a cool dude and a real dude.’ And then you get the opportunity to talk about me and listen, I know you got a job to do. I know you got to do your thing and say what you got to say, but at no point did you say, ‘Y’all are saying this person is f%$%#% up and this person needs help. Now, I know the person, say what you want about the basketball player, that’s fine. But I know the person.’ To sit back and see those claims, to know and appreciate me as a human being, and just flow with the narrative because it was easy to do? I lost a lot of respect for a lot of people.”

"To sit back & see those that claim to know & appreciate me as a human being just blow with the narrative that was easy. I lost a lot of respect for a lot of people."

Draymond Green on Stephen A. Smith and those who criticized him.

(via @bigpodwithshaq)pic.twitter.com/aMmr2UjjBG

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 22, 2024

Stephen A. Smith responded to Green’s comments on Thursday’s episode of “First Take,” addressing the claim that Green had lost respect for him.

“I love this brother, I got mad love for Draymond Green. I have an abundance of receipts where I can show you and Molly, you can be a testament to this. How many times have I spoken up for Draymond Green? It’s been countless times. This man has been ejected from twenty games in his career. In a nine-month span last year, Draymond Green was suspended four times. And when he hit Nurkic, it was me on the air—and you can attest to this, Molly—when you had people talking about anger management, talking about he needs help, I was the one that said, ‘Yoo, that’s going too damn far.’ I was the one that had a problem with Kevin Durant saying, ‘I hope he gets the help he needs.’ I said, ‘That’s a brother, that’s a teammate, you know he is a black man, you know what that connotates. How could you say something like that?'”

Smith continued, playing a clip from December 13 where he mentioned wanting to defend Green but couldn’t excuse his behavior after the incident with Rudy Gobert. Smith has often found himself in controversial situations, but this time, it seems Green may be overreacting to Smith’s comments.

"Draymond Green just went on a national podcast… said that he lost respect for me. Now I've lost respect for him… I give over 3,000 takes a year… I've given over 40,000 takes throughout my career… I pride myself on being fair."

—Stephen A. Smithpic.twitter.com/ItsmxlsdmR https://t.co/sFAL5VhY1Q

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 23, 2024