Draymond Green is no stranger to picking fights on the court and making enemies. The Warriors forward has kicked, punched, and choked out opponents and forged rivalries with the likes of Jusuf Nurkic and Rudy Gobert with his actions. It seemed that Kings star De’Aaron Fox had joined the list in 2023. However, the guard admitted that there was nothing but love and competitiveness between him and the veteran.
In the first quarter of Game 4 of the playoff series between the Kings and Warriors in 2023, Fox and Green got into a heated shouting match over a foul. Neither player was willing to back down. Teammates and officials had to step in to separate the two and prevent the situation from escalating. Some believed that was the start of a beef between the two.
However, during an appearance on The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis, Fox claimed that the incident was blown out of proportion. He explained.
“Being able to be in that series and understand that guys are getting to it people always talking about, ‘Oh you can’t be friends and blah blah blah..’ Bro, we can be cool off the court and punch each other in the mouth on the court. Like you fight with your brothers, you fight with your sisters, you fight with your cousins. After it’s all said and done, you love them the same.”
Despite the astonishing things they said to each other during that argument, neither player harbors any resentment towards the other. However, the same can’t be said about their teams.
How Kings vs Warriors became the NBA rivalry to watch out for
Rivalries of high intensity have been hard to come by, in the last decade. However, the Kings and the Warriors are ending that stagnation. Sacramento wants to be a Western Conference powerhouse and their Californian neighbors have the same ambition. Their shared interest and proximity have turned them into rivals and they’ve had some epic clashes across the last three seasons.
In their first game of the 2023-24 campaign, the Warriors and Kings picked up where they left off in the playoffs, which ended 4-3 in Golden State’s favor. Sacramento led by one point with just over 10 seconds remaining. The ball ended up in the hands of Klay Thompson, who connected on the game-winning jump shot.
However, the Kings got their revenge a few weeks later. Malik Monk gave the Warriors a taste of their own medicine, knocking down a game-winner to send the Kings to the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup.
Three of the last six games between them have finished in a one-point win for one of the teams. They have also beaten each other thrice in that span. The Warriors and Kings rivalry isn’t as sinister as some others. However, the quality of games between these two games is almost always exceptional.
2024-12-18 22:19:18
