Draymond Green Fires Back At Rockets Star’s ‘Whining’ Criticism
The Golden State Warriors have had one of the most successful runs in NBA history over the past decade. Much of that success has come from defeating the Houston Rockets, a team Golden State knocked out of this past year’s playoffs.
In what is a new iteration of the Warriors-Rockets rivalry, Houston All-Star Alperen Sengun recently called out the former champs for their fouling and complaining in the first-round matchup. In response, Draymond Green sent a message to Sengun in just three words.
“Hold that L,” Green wrote in a reply on Threads in response to a post spotlighting Sengun’s comments.
The Warriors beat the Rockets in seven games during the postseason. Over the summer, Houston has transformed their team with the addition of Kevin Durant and other rotational pieces, while Golden State is the only team in the NBA yet to add or resign a player.
Draymond Didn’t Hold Back
Sengun was speaking on a podcast interview when his comments on Houston’s series with the Warriors came up.
“They’re a super-experienced team,” Sengun said in the interview. “They also fouled a lot. Fouls just don’t get called much in the playoffs. You get what I’m saying? Yeah. They were whining the whole series. ‘That’s a foul!’ They’d complain. We couldn’t say anything, because that’s not what we do.”
Along with his first reply, Green went back to give a few more thoughts on Sengun’s comments on their series with the Warriors.
“That’s a tough thing to say after you lose,” Green also wrote. “You have to win to (say) stuff like that.”
According to research done by Yahoo Sports, the Warriors had 150 fouls called in the series, compared to 124 for the Rockets. The biggest discrepancy came in Game 6 of the series, with Golden State getting 12 more foul calls than Houston.
Unpredicted Praise From The Warriors Star
While Green’s latest replies towards Sengun’s comments don’t reflect anything out of character for the four-time champion, earlier in the summer, he did take time to praise one of their players after their postseason matchup.
“No one gives him credit but I thought Jabari Smith was really good in that series and I thought Jabari Smith worked his way back from almost going the wrong way as the number two pick to like hold on, I can compete at this level,” Green said on his podcast. “I think he worked his way back and will probably be in the starting lineup for this Rockets team moving forward.”
He also gave positive reactions to the moves made by Houston over the summer.
“Anytime you can add a Kevin Durant, it’s an upgrade. I don’t care who you are,” Green added, while also commenting on Fred VanVleet’s contract extension.”Well deserved, the way I saw him lead that team in the playoffs.”
Green also saw potential in Sengun, though it was a bit before their latest ‘beef.’
“I expect Sengun to make a big jump after the playoffs he had,” he added. “I expect Tari Eason and all those guys to make jumps, so it’ll be interesting.”
Golden State has never lost to Houston in the playoffs, with five matchups coming since 2015. They have won 20 of the 30 total games and have only been behind in a series once.
The Warriors will play the Rockets for the first time next season in San Francisco on November 26.
