In his 13 seasons as a professional basketball player, Draymond Green has made it extremely clear that he does not mind annoying his opponents. Few instigators in basketball have proven as committed as Green is to bothering his direct matchup.
In many cases, this strategy is successful, but as Green found out on Friday night, it is a pretty tough act to manage against a man who is literally a foot taller than you.
On Friday, Green spent some time matched up against Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama. While San Antonio was looking to bring the ball in under the basket in the fourth quarter, Green decided to go low on Wemby, digging his shoulder it Wemby’s waist for a shot at some leverage. After Wemby briefly raised his hands in a “get a load of this guy” gesture, he got low (or as low as his frame allows) too, and battled right back, prompting an official to check in on the situation.
Eventually, the two settled down enough for play to continue, at which point Wemby received the inbounds pass and slammed home an alley-oop. While Green was called for a foul on the floor thus negating the basket, the point was clearly made.
HOOOOOOOOOOOLY 💩 VICTOR...
They called a foul on the floor but Wemby slamming on Draymond on the inbounds is cinema and Wemby let Dray know after the slam pic.twitter.com/ngNNVdShND
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) November 15, 2025
Ultimately, Green and the Warriors would get the last laugh on Wemby and the Spurs, leaving San Antonio with back-to-back wins after riding an impressive fourth-quarter comeback. Still, both Wembanyama and Green had plenty to say after their interaction on the court.
“I was not trying to prove anything to anybody,” Wembanyama said after the game. “It’s just, at some point, just like anybody, for me at least, somebody speaks to you a certain way, you have to respond in a certain way. That’s just how it is.”
“I respect the way he responded,” Green said of the moment. “You don’t ever back down from anybody, and he didn’t. So I respect that.”
To Green’s credit, while the highlight of the night certainly didn’t go his way, he was largely effective as Wembanyama’s primary defender over their two-game stand.
Wemby when defended by Draymond Green, last 2 games:
14:21 mins
8/21 FG (38.1%)
2/5 3PT (40%)
6 Turnovers pic.twitter.com/y4XZozgs47
— Denver🇵🇸 (@doubledworth) November 15, 2025
While we’re not scheduled to see the two sides match up again until February, it’s clear that a fun rivalry could be brewing between the veteran Warriors and up-and-coming Spurs.
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