NBA players are often held to a higher standard than most people. The fact that they can dribble the ball and score baskets seems to be enough reason for many people to ask more from them than other people.
Ironically, when NBA players, and athletes in general, raise their voices against any social matter, the public asks them to be silent. We saw this during 2020 with all the protests taking place across the U.S.
Times are different right now, but it still looks like players must speak when other people want them to speak instead of when they feel like some things need to be said. Draymond Green has been very vocal about the NBA, the 2022 playoffs, and the way things have been handled.
After getting ejected in Game 1 of the Golden State Warriors-Memphis Grizzlies second-round series, Green went off on the officials, criticizing the decision of ejecting him from the match after a hard foul on Brandon Clarke.
Draymond hasn’t stopped and after getting hit in his eye and showing his middle fingers to Memphis fans, the player raised many eyebrows around the league. He defended his behavior and said that he’d take whatever fine the league wants to give him.
These comments sparked a big debate on ESPN’s First Take, where JJ Redick and Chris Russo went at it. At some point, ‘Mad Dog’ said Draymond should be quiet and play, which didn’t sit well with Redick, who replied to Russo by saying that’s the language that certain people at certain network uses to refer to NBA players.
“I’m not saying it’s a race situation, I’m saying that the fans that you’re talking about, they talk about athletes that way like you just talk about an athlete. The people on Fox News talk about athletes that way, that’s my issue. I don’t actually care about the fans that watched Bob Cousy play or watched Bill play, I don’t care. I appreciate that they’ve been NBA fans that long, but I don’t appreciate the undertone.”
What Redick is referring to in his comments is the infamous ‘suggestion’ a reporter gave to LeBron James, telling him to ‘shut up and dribble’ a couple of years ago. JJ doesn’t hesitate to defend his peers and even if Draymond is letting his mouth run, he has a right to speak on the things he doesn’t like.
He won’t shut up and dribble and this situation has actually added more spice to the already electrifying Warriors-Grizzlies series.
