Draymond Green Tries to Kick Opponent, Gets Slammed by ESPN Analyst

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green was at it again.

On Friday night, in the Warriors’ 115-97 win over the Charlotte Hornets, Green battled Hornets forward Grant Williams all night long.

Green and Williams were seen tangled up on multiple occasions, and at one point, Green let his frustration get the best of him.

In the fourth quarter of Friday night’s game, with the Warriors well on their way to a win, Williams and Green were matched up on the perimeter. When Williams got a little too close for Green’s liking on defense, Green raised his leg and appeared to try to kick Williams in the groin area.

Fortunately, he missed, but Green could have got himself in serious trouble had he landed the kick. Here’s a video of the play, courtesy of NBA Buzz on X:

DRAYMOND VS. GRANT WILLIAMS! Draymond Green got chippy with Grant Williams in the 4th quarter & Draymond was THIS close to kicking Grant in the groin… ???? pic.twitter.com/XHbbiEYfpV

— NBA Buzz (@OfficialNBABuzz) March 30, 2024

Green and Williams had been battling all night, as Bally Sports Hornets on X has another video of them getting tangled up earlier in the game:

Green and Williams are two of the most physical players in the NBA. And this isn’t their first incident.

Just last month, after the Warriors beat the Hornets 97-84, Green unloaded on Williams in his postgame press conference after the two got into a verbal altercation and mini-scuffle at the end of the game. Here’s a video of the incident, via Warriors on NBCS on X:

And here’s what Green had to say after the game.

“Grant Williams gotta stop it, man,” Green said. “Being like this tough guy is going absolutely wrong for him. Like, he’s a really nice guy. And for some reason, he keeps trying to jump on the unlikeable side, and I must tell you, it’s not always fun over here. It’s not always a good time. I don’t know, man, he need to figure it out. Cause boy. Talking too much kind of got you out of Dallas. Like, overdoing it. And he’s over there talking too much now. He might want to slow down and stop all the tough-guy stuff.”

“Being this tough guy is going absolutely wrong for him … Talking too much kind of got you out of Dallas … “

Draymond went in on Grant Williams ???? pic.twitter.com/SbtAT7k5oh

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 24, 2024

Green has his own laundry list of non-basketball issues.

Just this year, he’s faced multiple suspensions: one for putting Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold and one for striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face.

Earlier this week, Green got himself ejected from the Warriors’ 101-93 win over the Orlando Magic less than four minutes into the game.

His behavior has caused one NBA analyst to call for the Warriors to trade him, while another said he’s “killing” their culture. ESPN’s Seth Greenberg didn’t mince words when talking about Green (via Awful Announcing on X):

“You talk about the dynasty of the Golden State Warriors. It’s over, it’s done. The coach who created it is in that locker room has to take ownership of what’s going on… Don’t play the dude. He’s absolutely killing your culture, your identity, and basically everything that you built.”

The Warriors are currently fighting to hold their spot in the Play-In Tournament. They sit at the No. 10 seed in the West, just one game ahead of the streaking Houston Rockets, who have won 11 straight games.

The Warriors have just nine more games this season, with their next one coming on Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Warriors are 28-20 when Green plays and 11-14 when he doesn’t.