Weighing in on “fighting in the NBA,” Los Angeles Clippers forward, Paul George, dropped his two cents on the Draymond Green/Rudy Govert altercation during his latest podcast episode. Echoing similar sentiments and reactions shared on social media, George called Draymond’s action an “overreaction.”
“If there’s a scuffle or a fight, you’re responsible to go get your teammate, like don’t drab another team’s [player] like that and I think that’s what Dray acted and I thought it was an overreaction. I don’t think Rudy grabbed Klay hard enough for that response to be ‘let me grab Rudy back’ but in that moment I could see Draymond being like ‘hey go check your teammate, not mine.’”
Regarding physical altercations in the NBA, in general, George believes that most guys try to avoid fights or any other scenarios that could lead to one.
“I mean, let’s be honest, dudes ain’t fighting in the league. Guys aren’t fighting on that stage, in an NBA game. That hasn’t happened in a really long time. Probably since the CP [Chris Pual] and [Rajon] Rondo situation.”
As someone who grew up watching the NBA in the 1990s, I can definitely attest to the vast differences I see in the League between the two eras. I wouldn’t necessarily call players today “soft,” but you don’t see all-out brawls breaking out, mid-court anymore. Sure, we might see players throw an elbow, shove back, and/or get in another player’s face, here and there but it doesn’t really escalate into anything too extreme. Well, unless you’re Draymond Green, of course, but aside from the two highly publicized incidents that he was involved in, we don’t really see NBA players get as rowdy or testy nowadays.
