Danny Green has built a career reputation as a winner. He has won three championships with three different teams, being a part of the Spurs, Raptors, and Lakers. Philadelphia hoped to add the winning touch when they acquired him in 2020 but it hasn’t worked out as well as they would have thought it did.
His perimeter defense abilities have gotten worse as he has aged and he is not the same sniper he used to be. It seems his chemistry with teammates might also be off, as evidenced in the Philadelphia 76ers’ win against the Toronto Raptors in Game 3 of the first round.
Green committed a foul when he thought he hadn’t fouled, so after the whistle blew, he started arguing with officiating. Green was evidently worked up, as James Harden and Tyrese Maxey surrounded him and tried to calm him down. Green kept arguing, which caused some hard shoves from Harden to Green to make sure he stops arguing with the refs and possibly gets ejected.
Danny Green’s teammates putting him in check pic.twitter.com/8PQNvQUsjj
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 21, 2022
The 76ers won this game, but the Raptors have come back and Philly have their chance of sweeping the team. This sort of emotion is more understandable considering the circumstances, but a veteran shouldn’t have an outburst like that in a playoff game. Harden and Maxey may have been aggressive, but they did what they had to do.
Green will need to be on his best form if he wants to make it through the playoffs with the 76ers and possibly add a fourth championship. The pieces are there, but it doesn’t look like Philly will be the favorites after Joel Embiid’s thumb injury that is expected to limit his performance.
Hopefully, this can be a moment that snaps some perspective back into Green and the 76ers close out Toronto in Game 5 and walk out with a 4-1 series win.
