Draymond Green did not hold back while responding to Suns center Jusuf Nurkić's postgame comments about the Warriors forward after Golden State's 113-112 victory over Phoenix on Saturday at Chase Center.
Nurkić -- who was directly involved with the on-court altercation that led to Green's indefinite suspension in December -- took a shot at the Warriors veteran while addressing reporters in the visitor's locker room at Chase Center after the pair had a handful of exchanges on the court during Saturday's game.
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"It's sad. He didn't learn anything," Nurkić told reporters. "Just a matter of time. He's going to hit somebody else again. Take back everything I said. He don't deserve a chance."
Green did not take kindly to Nurkić's postgame remarks, clapping back with a fiery response on an episode of "The Draymond Green Show" podcast where he unaffectionately dubbed the Suns big man "the little guy."
"The little guy [Nurkić] goes into the media and he says, 'I take my words back. He doesn't deserve another chance. It's only a matter of time before he hits someone else,' " Green said on his podcast.
"Quite frankly, I would love to know, why is it only a matter of time before I hit someone else? Because I destroyed him? Because what in that game that happened with me would make you say something like that other than getting embarrassed because you're just not good enough?
Golden State Warriors
"You're not good enough offensively. You had Steph Curry on post-ups; you got nothing. Outweighs me by 80 pounds and six inches taller than me. That's one thing, outweighs Steph Curry by about 120 pounds, and about nine inches taller than him and could not score on him on the block.
"Towers over Klay [Thompson] by about five inches, outweighs Klay by about 90 to 100 pounds, could not score on Klay Thompson on the block."
Green then explained how Nurkić's decision to target him with a "too small" celebration in Saturday's game added to the already palpable tension between the two.
"Little guy tries to post up, tries to back me down, only to shoot a hook shot from the dotted -- not the restricted area -- the dotted line in the paint, which means you made no progress on getting towards the rim" Green said.
"Shoots a nasty hook shot for his sixth points of the game -- his last points of the game -- and decides to do an overtly 'too small' celebration. Slapping the floor, the whole thing and quite frankly you're just not good enough to do things like that."
Green further elaborated how he interpreted Nurkić's celebration as disrespect, prompting him to answer with the same "too small" gesture when he scored on a later possession.
"You see clowns like that do things like that, and it's actually very disrespectful to the game; it's disrespectful to the player that you're doing it to," Green said.
"I catch the ball on the block and the clown decides to kind of turn his body toward me. Alright, well bring your chest here. Now your shoulder should meet my chest, you should get put in the room [and] that's what happened.
"Oh, and by the way. We all can do the slap the floor 'too small' celebration."
The former Defensive Player of the Year took issue with Nurkić questioning his character after the game, with Green not mincing any words with how he viewed the Suns big man's decision to make remarks about him to the media.
"The little guy then goes into the media complaining like I did something to him as if he didn't do the 'too small' celebration," Green detailed. "And then he starts to question my character -- what a coward.
"You go question character about a basketball game that you just lost, that you got destroyed in, the only thing you should talk about is how you got punished … then you go to the media and cry like that."
While the Warriors won't face the Suns again in the regular season, Golden State's recent resurgence does leave the door open for a potential playoff series between these two teams.
Safe to say all eyes will be on Green and Nurkić should the Warriors and Suns cross paths in the postseason.
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