Domantas Sabonis found himself in the eye of the storm during the epic Warriors-Kings first round series.
During Game 2, Sabonis tugged on Draymond Green’s ankle as he tried to run on the floor, and Draymond retaliated by stomping on his chest to get ejected and suspended for Game 3. All the while, underrated Kevon Looney was responsible for keeping a lid on Sabonis, who led the league in rebounding during the regular season but was outrebounded by Loon 107-77 in the series.
After Sunday’s Warriors win – when Steph Curry put up the first ever 50-point Game 7 – Draymond was irked that Sabonis didn’t shake his hand. When reporters asked Sabonis about Draymond’s comments during Monday’s exit interviews, the Kings forward failed to come up with a response.
“I don’t know,” Sabonis said, stumbling over his words. “After the game, I don’t know. They all … I mean, I don’t even know how to respond.”
This reaction probably didn’t do anything to help Sabonis’ image in Draymond’s eyes. A day earlier, Draymond ripped Sabonis on his postgame podcast.
“Lost a lot of respect for Sabonis,” Green said. “You don’t shake guys hands after you lose, I don’t respect that. I once left the court when we lost in Game 7 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I went to the locker room and I sat down and I said ‘This don’t feel right’ and I walked back out on the court and I showed everybody love.
“You lost, deal with it. Pay your respect. That was wack to me, that’s wack. But I wouldn’t necessarily even say lost respect – look, I don’t respect that, and that’s wack. However, Sacramento Kings organization, Sacramento Kings fanbase, De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Mike Brown and Company, I gained a lot of respect for.”
As strong as Draymond’s take is, there are receipts to show he actually denied Tristan Thompson a handshake after the Warriors swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Finals. Damien Barling of ESPN 1320 in Sacramento re-surfaced a clip from five years ago during the Warriors’ final championship parade in Oakland.
At this point it’s just online fodder, but if Draymond returns to Golden State next season – whether it’s on his $27.6 million player option or an extension – the matchups against Sabonis and the Kings should have some extra juice.
