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Wolves-Warriors was a continuation of Anthony Edwards, Draymond Green gamesmanship

Green and Edwards appear to have a mutual respect and trash talk is part of their identities.
Wolves-Warriors was a continuation of Anthony Edwards, Draymond Green gamesmanship
Wolves-Warriors was a continuation of Anthony Edwards, Draymond Green gamesmanship

In the echo chamber of X (formerly Twitter), all that could be heard was those yelling in astonishment about a perceived beef between Draymond Green and Anthony Edwards. In the real world, however, their recent war or words appeared to be nothing more than the continuation of two players who thrive on trash talk. 

In other words, it was all gamesmanship. 

"Get the [bleep] out of here," Green said after fouling Edwards with 5:25 left in the fourth quarter of the game on Sunday, Nov. 12. Edwards said something response and Green barked, "What you gonna do about it?"

What did Edwards do about it? He scored eight of his 13 fourth quarter points to keep the Warriors at bay and lead the Timberwolves to a 116-110 win – a sixth straight victory for the rising Timberwolves. 

Green and Edwards have been trash talking each other during games since 2021, when they went back and forth with a series of "Yes, sir!" comments after numerous big plays. And if you were paying attention Sunday night, you would've noticed Green help Edwards up after Edwards was fouled later in the fourth quarter. 

"He says whatever the hell comes to his mind, which I can appreciate," Green said on The Draymond Green Show in 2022. "He’s funny, charismatic, and did you see Hustle? Like, he got it. He just got it. Like some people just got it. Like, he got it."

Beef? Not even close. It was gamesmanship at a very high level and Edwards was up to the challenge from the four-time NBA champion. 


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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Joe Nelson has more than 20 years of experience in Minnesota sports journalism. Nelson began his career in sports radio, working at smaller stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before moving to the highly-rated KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. While there, he produced the popular mid-morning show hosted by Minnesota Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen. His time in radio laid the groundwork for his transition to sports writing in 2011. He covers the Vikings, Timberwolves, Gophers and Twins for On SI.

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