Remember Draymond Green's Tanking Comments? Hornets Pass Warriors in Wins

Several weeks ago, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green had a lot to say about the Charlotte Hornets. They had been bringing LaMelo Ball off the bench as part of an experiment to keep him healthy and active on back-to-backs. They also tinkered with his minute allotment.

That didn't work out so well, and the Hornets have since abandoned the idea. Still, Green thought it was strange and apparently didn't research the idea, which was not exclusive to the Hornets and Ball. Other teams had been trying similar things.

Draymond Green calls out the Hornets for tanking

“The fact they have Lamelo Ball coming off the bench… They are a much worse team and so easy to guard when Lamelo is not on the floor… that’s just the nature of sorry teams”

(h/t @NBA__Courtside)pic.twitter.com/gyOLbPm0LE
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) January 19, 2026

Green said the Hornets must be blatantly tanking to bring Ball off the bench, calling them a "sorry team." The claims held no water when Green, who has done a whole lot of talking via his podcast, made them.

Now, they look even worse. The Hornets have figured out the right combination for Ball's minutes, and they've taken off. They have now won 16 of 19 contests and are 32-31. Taking a quick glance over at the Western Conference highlights how wrong Green was.

The Hornets now have 32 wins. The Warriors have 31. By win percentage, these two teams are exactly the same. By point differential, the Hornets are +2.6 points better than the Warriors.

The only reason the Warriors are ranked eighth as opposed to Charlotte's ninth is the slight weakness of that region of the West. Otherwise, these two teams are almost identical, and the Warriors certainly aren't tanking. Neither were the Hornets.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) chats with Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Now, some context has to be provided. The Warriors aren't horrible. They're just dealing with an unfortunate and widespread rash of injuries. Jimmy Butler is out for the year and has been for a while. His traded-in replacement, Kristaps Porzingis, isn't playing right now, either.

Steph Curry is also sidelined temporarily. Perhaps it's a little impressive they're still afloat, but the point remains. They're currently in the same spot the Hornets are in, so to have ever thought Charlotte was tanking was just foolish.

There's no scenario where these two teams meet up again to hash this out. The Warriors swept the two-game series, and unless they somehow make it to the NBA Finals, they won't meet again, and that's not happening.

Neither the Hornets nor the Warriors are true title threats, but they are both Play-In teams as of now. Perhaps Green should do a little more research before making comments about teams he doesn't play for or routinely watch.

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