{"id":779978,"date":"2026-05-07T16:07:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/779978\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T16:07:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:07:45","slug":"the-bounce-draymond-green-and-austin-rivers-have-beef-whos-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/779978\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bounce: Draymond Green and Austin Rivers have beef. Who\u2019s right?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bounce Newslette<\/b>r<\/strong>\u00a0\":basketball:\"\u00a0| This is The Athletic\u2019s daily NBA newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

On this date in 1989, Michael Jordan caught the inbound pass in Game 5 against Cleveland. He took two hard dribbles to the free-throw line, rose, hung in the air, fired and hit \u201cshot on Ehlo<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0This call by the Bulls crew is forever etched into my brain.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd69 Court!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beef Court: Austin Rivers vs. Draymond Green<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bounce Beef Court is back in session for another very important case. This time, we\u2019ve got a contentious dispute between Warriors forward Draymond Green and former NBA guard Austin Rivers. It began with Draymond offering up a very curious take regarding his coach, Steve Kerr, on his podcast:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think of who I was offensively as a player and who I became, I think a part of that is due to him. I don\u2019t hold that against him. I\u2019m forever grateful that he still put me in a position to be successful, and that I could become Draymond Green despite my offensive role on our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green mentioned that he hadn\u2019t had a single play run for him since 2016. That caused Rivers to question what Green was talking about. And to be fair to Rivers, many people wondered aloud if Green was being unreasonable, incorrect, delusional or all of the above. Rivers was asked on \u201cThe Dan Patrick Show<\/a>\u201d on how to feature Draymond, and Rivers responded with, \u201cFeatured doing what?\u201d He called it \u201cridiculous\u201d that Draymond thinks like this, because Draymond isn\u2019t a scorer, and he\u2019s left open 80 percent of the time.<\/p>\n

Rivers noted because Draymond is such a high-IQ player, he\u2019s taken advantage by making other plays. He claimed it wasn\u2019t a slight to say Draymond wouldn\u2019t be a future Hall of Famer if he were drafted to another team. I don\u2019t know \u2026 kind of sounds like a slight.<\/p>\n

Draymond fired back on his podcast<\/a>, and Rivers has since responded<\/a>. Let\u2019s review the cases for both and make a Beef Court ruling.<\/p>\n

The case for Draymond: <\/strong>Green was ruthless when he clapped back at Rivers. He started off by mentioning that Rivers is on his second act (as he\u2019s now firmly in a media career) and that Draymond is still in his first act (playing in the NBA). Then he mocked Rivers\u2019 ability as a player, essentially saying he peaked in high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustin, you and I averaged the same amount of points in high school, and I say high school cause that\u2019s when you were at your best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ay, Dios mio! It\u2019s not totally true. Green averaged 20 points per game in his senior season and 25 points as a junior in high school. Rivers averaged 23.9 as a junior and 28.8 as a senior, according to MaxPreps.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t stop there. He said Rivers was \u201cvery featured at Duke,\u201d but his NBA career started with his first team getting rid of him after two years. That\u2019s when New Orleans declined Rivers\u2019 fourth-year option on his rookie deal and traded him in the middle of his third season. Then he got personal with the sensitive subject of his dad, Doc Rivers, giving his son a big contract with the Clippers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy received the biggest bailout in U.S. history, prior to President Trump bailing out the airlines, when his dad gave him $42 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doc actually gave Austin a three-year, $35 million contract in 2016. But Draymond said he prays he can one day give his children $200 million or $250 million one day. My goodness.<\/p>\n

The case for Rivers: <\/strong>Rivers started his response by saying he was actually being wildly complimentary of Draymond, even though it didn\u2019t completely come off that way. Then he said, \u201cBut it\u2019s you, and I shouldn\u2019t be surprised. You always act irrationally, emotionally and immature. And your anger always puts you in hot water.\u201d Rivers had previously mentioned Kerr allowing Draymond\u2019s \u201cspasms\u201d and outbursts to go relatively unchecked.<\/p>\n

Rivers defended his high school career, noting he received the Naismith national prep player of the year award (which he panned to on camera). \u201cI was ranked No. 1, and you were ranked I don\u2019t know.\u201d He said Draymond was solid in college, but it\u2019s hard to compare because Rivers was only at Duke for six months. \u201cSomething you could never do,\u201d as Rivers referenced being a one-and-done guy versus Draymond\u2019s four years at Michigan State.<\/p>\n

Rivers then acknowledged his pro career can\u2019t match Draymond\u2019s but hit him with an \u201ceasy, tiger\u201d before talking about how lucky Draymond has been to play with so many Hall of Famers and greats. Rivers called him the luckiest basketball player he\u2019s ever seen. He also mentioned how Draymond chased Kevin Durant off the Warriors because he \u201ctalks too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivers also called Draymond \u201cthe backpack jump shooter,\u201d referencing the meme of how Draymond looks when he shoots a jumper<\/a>. He closed by mentioning how teams wouldn\u2019t give him a coaching job because he sucker punches teammates.<\/p>\n

Beef Court ruling \ud83e\uddd1\u200d\u2696\ufe0f: <\/strong>We were going to take Draymond\u2019s side. But then he showed a lack of cognitive awareness with this incorrect jab at Charles Barkley<\/a>. So the Beef Court rules in favor of Rivers.<\/p>\n

The last 24<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd7d See no evil. <\/strong>Does the NBA have an integrity problem, especially when it comes to gambling and tanking? Not according to our latest anonymous player poll<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ud83e\uddd4\ud83c\udffe\u200d\u2642\ufe0f SOS. <\/strong>Has anybody seen the \u201cgood\u201d James Harden? Please send him to Cleveland ASAP, Candace Buckner writes<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ud83e\ude7c Bad news. <\/strong>I wouldn\u2019t get excited about a Luka\u00a0Don\u010dic return. It\u2019s unlikely in the second round<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd8c Uh oh. <\/strong>Bucks owners were honest with new coach Taylor Jenkins about Giannis. \u201cHe may or may not be with us.\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd0a \u201cNBA Daily.\u201d <\/strong>Watch and listen to a recap of last night\u2019s games. And a discussion about whether Alperen\u00a0\u015eeng\u00fcn really is the league\u2019s most overrated player.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!<\/a>)\u00a0and catch out-of-market games on\u00a0League Pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About last night<\/p>\n

Knicks, Spurs protect home court<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s recap last night\u2019s Game 2s:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Karl Anthony-Towns and the Knicks are up 2-0 on the Sixers. (Wendell Cruz \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Knicks 108, 76ers 102 | Knicks lead 2-0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Without Joel Embiid (ankle and hip) in Game 2, the Knicks were expected to have another blowout victory like in Game 1. Instead, the Sixers put up a great fight<\/a> \u2026 until the fourth quarter. While they did a phenomenal job of limiting the Knicks in that fourth, the Sixers only scored 12 points in the final 12 minutes<\/strong>. That dashed any chance of stealing a game at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points, while Kelly Oubre and Paul George had 19. But Jalen Brunson put up 26 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had a 20-10-7 and OG Anunoby had 24 for the Knicks. Something to monitor? It looked like Anunoby might have hurt his hamstring.\u00a0 New York can\u2019t afford to miss him for long<\/a>, Ian O\u2019Connor writes.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the adjustment for Philadelphia?<\/strong> Find more paint points. Losing that battle without Embiid is expected. Losing it 56-30 is not the discrepancy the Sixers should accept.<\/p>\n

How does New York take another one?<\/strong> Get that 3-point percentage up. The Knicks went just 7-of-26 from deep. They played a really good game<\/a> in a lot of areas, but they left a lot of meat on the bone from the perimeter.<\/p>\n

Telling stat:<\/strong> 21.1. That was the percentage the Sixers shot in the fourth quarter, going 4-of-21 from the field. George, VJ Edgecombe and Maxey combined to go 2-of-16 in the quarter.<\/p>\n

Playoff Panic Meter (out of five):<\/strong> \ud83d\udd14\ud83d\udd14\ud83d\udd14\ud83d\udd14 for Philadelphia<\/p>\n

Spurs 133, Wolves 95 | Series tied 1-1<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a spirited Game 1 loss to the Wolves, the Spurs responded exactly as they hoped. Gregg Popovich sat in on the film session between games, and San Antonio did everything right in Game 2<\/a>. It forced more turnovers (22) than it allowed assisted buckets (19). Victor Wembanyama had 19 points, 15 boards and two blocks. The Spurs had 29 fast-break points. And in the blink of an eye, they made a lot of people forget about the Game 1 loss. This was a complete beatdown.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the adjustment for Minnesota?<\/strong> Literally everything from Game 2. Limit turnovers, make free throws, make 3-pointers, protect the paint, don\u2019t give up fast-break chances and play a little perimeter defense in the process.<\/p>\n

How does San Antonio take another one?<\/strong> Continue to put pressure in the paint. That\u2019s how the Spurs got going early, and Minnesota\u2019s defense crumbled.<\/p>\n

Telling stat:<\/strong> 40.9. That\u2019s the percentage of shots the Wolves made in the paint on their way to a 58-36 disadvantage in Game 2. Some of that was Wemby lurking, and some was just sloppiness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Playoff Panic Meter (out of five):<\/strong> \ud83d\udc3a\ud83d\udc3a for Minnesota | \ud83e\udd20\ud83e\udd20\ud83e\udd20 for San Antonio<\/p>\n

Since we\u2019re here, let\u2019s do a quick preview of tonight\u2019s Game 2s. All times Eastern.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cavs at Pistons, 7 p.m. (Amazon Prime) | Pistons lead 1-0<\/strong><\/p>\n