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Draymond Green rips Grant Williams after Miles Bridges sparks late-game scuffle: 'Stop the tough guy stuff'

Green took no issue with Bridges, who the Warriors veteran said 'can do no wrong'

callie lawson-freeman
Contributing writer
·4 min read
454

The Golden State Warriors' 97-84 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday ended in a late-game scuffle sparked by Miles Bridges. But after listening to Draymond Green's postgame comments, you would think Grant Williams started the fight.

Footage of the incident, which feels like a scene from a sketch comedy show, shows that things went south when Warriors guard Lester Quinones went for a layup with just over 12 seconds left in regulation. The attempt to score wasn't received well by Bridges, so he tried to block the shot and was called for goaltending.

Players from both teams rushed to the court for a good ol' melee, interrupting Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and Hornets head coach Steve Clifford as they attempted to enjoy a friendly conversation and shake hands to end the game.

Their transition from exchanging niceties to realizing what was unfolding on the court is comedic gold.

Cameras captured Kerr smiling at Clifford, unaware of the chaos until the Hornets coach shifted his gaze in shock. Kerr's smile immediately drops and Clifford is seen mouthing "What the f***" before both coaches spring into action:

Williams landed in the middle of the chaos as it shifted toward the Warriors bench. Green had a front-row seat, as he and Golden State's other stars had been removed from the game earlier in the quarter.

Addressing reporters after the win, Green directed all of his vitriol toward Williams.

"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," Green said. "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 is currently president of the NBA Players Association, leading Green to insult him in comparison to previous athletes who held the role. He layered his jabs by alluding to a report from ESPN's Tim MacMahon that said Williams was traded from the Dallas Mavericks because his attitude "rubbed people the wrong way."

"Talking too much kind of got you out of Dallas, like overdoing it," Green said. "He’s over there talking too much now. Might want to slow down and stop all the tough guy stuff."

Bridges was the one who shoved Green's teammate, but that was apparently fine.

"Miles [Bridges] 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 said.

In November, Bridges returned to action for the Hornets following a 30-game domestic violence suspension. The league's punishment came after he was arrested and pleaded no contest to the felony domestic violence charge of injuring a child's parent in 2022. Three of his charges were dropped earlier this month.

Green roasted Williams for three minutes. While he tossed in a "sore loser" comment about the incident that could also apply to Bridges, he ended the rant by saying, "Pray for Grant Williams."

Green issued a warning to Williams about being unlikable, an area where the Warriors veteran has plenty of expertise.

"He can't keep being like this tough guy," Green said. "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 and the Warriors' issues with Williams go all the way back to the 2022 NBA Finals. Williams was playing for the Boston Celtics and had plenty of brushes with Green during the series. After the Warriors won the championship, Williams said Boston was the better team.

Even Warriors star Stephen Curry took an opportunity to poke at Williams during the 2022 ESPY Awards, as he joked about letting him try on his championship ring.

Golden State will see Williams and the Hornets again when they visit Charlotte on March 29.