‘Pray for Grant Williams’: Draymond Green rips ex-Celtics forward following Hornets-Warriors scuffle
"Grant Williams got to stop it, man. He can't keep being like this tough guy."
Grant Williams’s hot start with his new home came to an end in a heated way on Friday.
In the closing moments of the Hornets’ 97-84 loss to the Warriors, Williams was among the few Charlotte players who took exception with Golden State guard Lester Quinones attempting a layup with about 12 seconds left. Hornets forward Miles Bridges goaltended Quinones’s shot attempt before pushing him.
As players rushed over to Quinones and Bridges, Williams got in the middle of it, going face-to-face with Quinones. Both players yelled at each other, getting separated a couple moments after going head-to-head. Williams and Quinones were ejected from the game for the altercation.
Draymond Green called out Williams for his reaction to Quinones’s layup, ripping into the ex-Celtics forward for over three minutes as he believed getting upset over the play was “kind of like a sore loser type thing.”
“Miles is my guy, that’s my little brother, so I’m not going to sit here and go in on Miles. Miles can do no wrong to me,” Green told reporters. “But Grant Williams got to stop it, man. He can’t keep being like this tough guy. It’s going absolutely wrong for him. Like he’s a really nice guy and, and for some reason, he keeps like trying to jump on the unlikable side and I must tell you it’s not always fun over here. It’s not always a good time. I don’t know, man, he need to figure it out.”
Green continued to question why Williams acted the way he’s been acting this season, referencing a report that the Mavericks traded him due to his “yapping.” He also believes Williams shouldn’t have acted the way he did on Friday considering that he’s the lead vice president of the Players’ Association.
“Talking too much kind of got you out of Dallas, like overdoing it and he over there talking too much now,” Green said. “So you might want to slow down and stop all the tough guy stuff. You want to be the president of the [Players Association] and stuff, man. You can’t be out here doing all that stuff.
“I don’t know what Grant Williams out here doing, man,” Green added. “He getting into it with everybody this year and then he came over to our bench and thought he was about to have a friend. Ain’t no friends for you over here, my man, like you got to go down there and talk to your guys. You can’t come over here and talk to us about what just happened with our players. Like no, we support [Quinones].”
Williams didn’t shy away from confrontation in his four seasons with the Celtics. In fact, he confronted Green during Game 3 of the 2022 NBA Finals, jawing back at the Warriors after the two got tangled up on a play. Green also trash-talked Williams in Game 2 of that series, telling Williams “You’re not me. You want to be me,” as the then-Celtics forward stated he idolized the Warriors star.
The two sides appear to be cordial though by the end of that series, sharing an embrace after the Warriors’ title-clinching win. Williams even said that Green told him that he and the Celtics would be back someday.
It appears that cordialness between the two is no longer there. Green ended his postgame rant on Williams with a clear message.
“Pray for Grant Williams.”
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