Golden State Warriors superstar Draymond Green continues to back up the NBA players amid different criticism. While experts judge players only after seeing them for a short while, whereas Green is someone who has seen some of these players personally and know more about their life and personality as a whole. So when he says something there are high chances of that being close to reality.
Recently on ESPN’s First Take, a lot was discussed on this season’s MVP and the potential contenders. Two time reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic is right there in the mix alongwith a couple of other players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and even Joel Embiid.
But Kendrick Perkins made some weird arguments. He touched on a lot of topics but the one that was the most interesting when he spoke about Jokic padding stats. Green however has backed the Denver Nuggets star who he feels is a sensational player and according to him the stat badding argument is simply unacceptable and lazy. He also points fingers at Russell Westbrook when Brodie went on having triple-double in consecutive games.
Green highlighted that then there was no padding issues against the Los Angles Clippers star but when in MVP conversations, these things are coming up, which according to the Warriors big man was simply a lazy narrative.
“I thought it was very interesting. I thought it was very interesting because of a few reasons. Number 1, it was over the MVP debate, which I think is a very interesting debate, which I also think no one has solidified yet. I think Joker is right there in the running. I think Giannis (Antetokounmpo) is right there in the running. I think Joel (Embiid) is right there in the running,” Green opens up on the stat padding take against Nikola Jokic.
He continues to back the Serbian center who has been a metronome for the Nuggets for sometime now and is gradually turning into a player who will leave behind a legacy with his vision, gameplay and basketball IQ. Therefore when his hardwork is termed as stat padding it irked Draymond Green.
“The whole stat padding thing, accusations that Joker has been facing, I think is ridiculous. I think, if you were going to make those about Joker, you had to make those about Russ (Westbrook) when Russ was having a triple-double, triple-double, after triple-double,” he added.
Lastly he also shared that one has to be really very good to stat pad a triple double consistently. “And quite frankly, even if you were going to make those about Russ, quite frankly don’t care bcause do you know how good you have to be to stat pad and get a triple-double?
The stat-padding narrative is lazy,” he concluded.
The Nuggets are at the top of the Western Conference (46-20 record) and with Jokic leading the team they will only get better from here when they reach postseason. They are surely a contender for the Championship this season.
