“You lucky Jordan didn’t want to give quotes”: Stephen A. Smith takes aim at Draymond Green for criticizing NBA’s 65-game rule

Draymond Green is considered a loud figure in basketball, on and off the court. When he's not playing, he often shares his unfiltered NBA-related takes on "The Draymond Green Show." During Wednesday's episode, Green took shots at the league's 65-game rule after Joel Embiid's left knee injury. This resulted in a strong response from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.

On ESPN's "First Take," Smith didn't hold back in calling out Green for blaming the league for what happened to Embiid. The 76ers' big man suffered the injury during the final minutes of Tuesday night's 119-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

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"We going to call out Draymond Green right here on national television," Smith said. "... We're talking about individuals who took advantage of the privileges that were given to them by the people that came before them. ... You lucky that Jordan didn't want to give quotes."

Load management has been a topic of debate in the NBA for quite some time now. It was primarily one of the reasons why fans were frustrated last season due to games lacking premier players on the court due to "rest" concerns. In a day and age where NBA stars are paid a huge sum of cash for their contracts, it was an issue that needed to be addressed.

Such is the reason that Stephen A. issued a response to Draymond Green. This was a problem that didn't just involve the players, but the league and the fans as well. This dates back to how long it took for stars in past generations to finally get what they're due, and for future generations to earn the right amount of money for their services.

Before players were signing record-breaking contracts, NBA stars had to establish that the league could be a popular and profitable product. However, it has come to a point where the generational wealth built up is being taken for granted by some players in the league via load management.

Also read: Who will replace Joel Embiid in the 2024 NBA All-Star game?

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Draymond Green recalled the time he lost a DPOY award to Kawhi Leonard

In the same podcast episode, Warriors forward Draymond Green talked about the time Kawhi Leonard won the Defensive Player of The Year award over him. During that season, the two-time NBA champion only played in 51 games.

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"I once lost a Defensive Player of The Year award to Kawhi Leonard," Green said, "and I think he played 51 games."

When looking at Leonard's resumé, this wasn't the case. The first time that Kawhi Leonard won DPOY was in the 2014-15 season, when he logged 64 games. His second DPOY award came in the 2015-16 season, when he played in 72 games.

Be that as it may, the NBA established the 65-game rule for players to rightfully earn league awards and the cash incentives associated with each one.

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