Ex-Rockets Cedric Maxwell Calls Out Draymond Green for NBA Finals Antics
The on-court antics of Draymond Green have become a focal point of conversation surrounding the NBA Finals. Many were questioning why he wasn't given a second technical foul and ultimately ejected from Game 2 after his incident with Jaylen Brown.
After Green had contested a fadeaway 3-pointer by Brown, they crashed into each other on the ground. When getting up, Green grabbed Brown's shorts, which he took as an attempt to pull his pants down in part of a pattern of on-court antics.
As a result of the "pantsing" exchange, Brown and Green seemed primed to receive a double-technical foul, such an outcome would have resulted in Green's ejection from the game.
"I don't know what I was supposed to do there," Brown said. "Somebody got their legs on the top of your head ... and then he tried to pull my pants down, I don't know what that was about but that's what Draymond Green does."
Former Houston Rockets forward Cedric Maxwell, who won two championships with the Celtics, took exception to Green's actions. Maxwell explained how the players of his era in the 1980s would have "knocked him the (expletive) out."
"I'm gonna be as clear as I can," Maxwell told Gary Payton on Sunday. "That shit Draymond Green was doing, during the '80s he would have got knocked the f--- out."
As expected, Green took exception to Maxwell's comment and expressed how the toughness of the 1980s gets significantly overstated. Green explained how there were only a few tough guys in that time and Maxwell wasn't one of them.
“Some of the guys that be talking weren’t the guys that was punching people,” Green said. “There were a few guys back then that would lay you out, that would knock you out, that would foul you and get thrown out the game: Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn. But everyone running around acting like they were that, y’all were getting bullied.
“There were a few guys back then that would lay you out, that would knock you out, that would foul you and get thrown out the game. Bill Laimbeer. Rick Mahorn. But everybody running around acting like they were that. Y’all were getting bullied. So it baffles me when every guy, just because they played in the ’80s, just because they played in the 90s, is like, man, if you played in our day, you’d get knocked out. , not really, because it wouldn’t be you."
Maxwell fired back at Green by telling him to ask Charles Barkley if he could fight since they got into an interaction during his playing career. He also told Green to "ask your daddy who I was" to be taught about his playing career.
"You keep saying nobody punched nobody. You ask Charles Barkley what happened when he and I got in a fight when I was in L.A. with the Clippers," Maxwell said on NBC Sports Boston.
"Draymond wasn't even born when I was playing. ... Draymond, ask your daddy who I was."
As the NBA Finals continue to play out, much attention will remain on Green and his on-court antics. When he is ejected, some will say it impacts the outcome of the championship unjustly. When he isn't ejected, some say he gets away with on-court antics. In other words, welcome to "The Draymond Green Show."
You can follow Grant Afseth on Twitter at @GrantAfseth.
Want the latest in news and insider information on the Houston Rockets? Click here
Follow Inside the Rockets on Facebook here
Follow Inside the Rockets on Twitter @InsideRocketsFN
