In a segment on the Draymond Green show, the 4x NBA champion gave his honest opinion of the beef between Jaylen Brown and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Green called Giannis a “big a** kid,” which is the same title that he gave LeBron James.
“Giannis a big a** kid for real, man,” Green said. “When you look at the video of Damian Lillard giving him the shoes, most people that are with Nike would be like ‘Ahh I ain’t getting into that’ but he’s just like ‘Free shoes are free shoes!’ He seems like a big a** kid. Now, Jaylen was pissed. So he called him a child out of anger. I say that in a way of like, [LeBron James] for instance, is a big a** kid. Giannis always gives you the super serious [act] but to me, it seems like he’s a big a** kid.”
Earlier this season, Giannis Antetokounmpo happily accepted a gift from his former co-star Damian Lillard: a pair of his signature Addidas sneakers. Most Nike athletes would have declined to even look at the kicks but Giannis made sure to put on a show of gratitude when he received them.
Scenes like that give people like Draymond the impression that Giannis is a “big a** kid.” At 6’11” it has nothing to do with his size, but rather his heart and more optimistic outlook on life. Of course, Giannis’ wilder side also comes out during live games, just as it did this past week against Celtics star Jaylen Brown.
Brown recently went viral for his response after Giannis Antetokounmpo tricked him with a fakeout handshake in the middle of a game. Brown called Giannis “childish” for the move and the Greek Freak responded by embracing the title and doubling down on his love for the game.
For Jaylen and others, Giannis’ trickery was a step too far and he crossed the line with his methods. For others, however, it’s just Giannis being who he’s always been: a free spirit and fun-loving athlete who will do anything to win.
While the description of being “childish” is often considered a negative connotation, Draymond is using it here to describe LeBron and Giannis in a positive light. On the outside, they might seem like tough, hard-nosed competitors but they both have fun in their roles and enjoy the process of competing every night.
In the case of LeBron James, he’s often been criticized for not being more serious in the past and not doing more to make an enemy out of the competition. Instead, LeBron has always been more of a peace-maker, likely to make friends with the competition rather than making enemies out of them.
The approach has worked for LeBron pretty well as a 4x champion and 4x MVP, but Giannis may want to take things a little more seriously if he wants to turn his season around. Beyond all the antics and petty trickery is a Bucks team struggling to keep up in the East, and it will take a massive, cooperative effort to turn their season around.
Draymond, who can sometimes get too serious on the court, knows what it takes to win and he knows that the path to victory can look vastly different depending on the players involved.
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