Draymond Green gave a rather enjoyable rant about old school NBA players who talk a bunch of trash about the current state of the NBA.
On Tuesaday, reporters asked the Golden State Warriors player about 1980s Celtics player Cedric Maxwell, who said Green would’ve “got knocked the fuck out” back then if he played like he does today.
Green then laid into Maxwell and other guys like him from that time period that like to boast about how physical it was back in the day.
“There were a few guys back then that would lay you out, that would knock you out, that would foul you and get thrown out the game,” Green said. “Bill Laimbeer. Rick Mahorn. But everybody running around acting like they were that.
“Y’all were getting bullied. So it, baffles me when every guy – just because they played in the ’80s, just because they played in the ’90s – is like, ‘Man, if you played in our day, you’d get knocked out.’
“Okay, so you’re saying Rick Mahorn would have knocked me out? Rick Mahorn probably knocks you out. Bill Laimbeer probably lays you out.”
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The NBA did have more physicality back then, but there is a reason the league could never go back to that.
“Their fine was also two dollars,” Green said. “It’s just not the same day and age. If I go knock somebody out, I probably get fined a million dollars.”
Green also correctly pointed out today’s players are far more skilled than prior generations.
“Comparing the physicality of the game and everybody acting like they were just the most physical and brutal enforcers,” Green said, “it’s like everybody acting like they shoot the ball like Steph Curry today.”
“Imagine me in 20 years, like, ‘Man, if you played in my day, you had to shoot,’” Green said.
