Draymond Green Victor Wembanyama
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Draymond Green and Victor Wembanyama talking trash
Monday’s All-Star starters reveal confirmed that San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama will start after getting the fifth Western Conference spot. A tie across the fan, media, and player votes with Anthony Edwards saw Wembanyama getting the nod due to the fan vote tie breaker. Both players have deserving arguments, but Wembanyama being so popular makes him the obvious choice of the fans.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green actually spoke about this before the votes got revealed, by stating he doesn’t think Wemby deserves it yet:
“For me, Wemby would not have been a starter if it were just straight up East versus West. And the reason Wemby wouldn’t have been a starter is that Ant-Man, for me, would have started over Wemby because Wemby just hadn’t play hasn’t played enough. He’s been coming off the bench the last seven games or so. He missed a bunch of time, you know. So, I just don’t know that I could have made him a starter.”
Green has been accused of taking unfair shots at other players across the league, but this felt more nuanced. Valid points of Wembanyama missing games due to injury and playing some games off the bench could be argued against him in such a tight race.
Who Draymond Green Wanted Over Wemby
Edwards is the first name mentioned by Green when naming someone more deserving than Wembanyama to get that final All-Star starter spot. The Minnesota Timberwolves having a great season sees Edwards forced to do more to carry his team to success. Edwards will still likely make the reserves, but he could have easily started.
Another more surprising name listed by Green was Portland Trail Blazers star Deni Avdija for the international appeal. “Needless to say, it is World vs. USA,” Green shared on his podcast. “And if you don’t want to go with Wemby, I think you could very easily go with Deni Avdija. Deni’s played incredibly. The Trailblazers look like a completely different team when he’s not on the floor.”
Similar to Edwards, Avdija has a likely path to the All-Star team. This isn’t as certain as Edwards, but Deni’s incredible season will see him getting many coaching votes. Green listing Avdija above Wembanyama does lead to more questioning his comments than the Edwards reference.
Does Draymond Green Dislike Wemby?
Wembanyama and Green had some tense moments during a recent game between their respective teams. Green talked some trash to Wembanyama and got hit with karma when the young French phenom dunked on him.
This was a fun moment of trash talk, but it didn’t escalate to more drama. Many of Green’s tense moments will lead to a fight or another action crossing the line to get him ejected from the game.
Nothing from their previous interaction was enough to believe that Green has an axe to grind with Wembanyama. Past podcast episodes have seen Draymond calling Wemby a superstar and viewing the Spurs as title contenders. Green could also be representing the veteran player that often wants the new young stars to prove a lot before getting their credit.