Top 5 NBA players who have openly criticized their teammates
Social media has allowed more people to express themselves, and the same has gone for players in the NBA. Now that the NBA has become a revolving door of news cycles, sometimes players use this platform to call their own teammates out.
Being an NBA player is extremely difficult, and the training and comradery that goes into that with your teammates is a deep bond. However, NBA players are naturally hyper-competitive and alpha dogs because that is what you likely must be to get to that level of play.
Now almost nothing can be kept from the media, and often players openly go out to the media to vent their frustration with teammates. These are five times that a player has used the media to vent his frustration with teammates.
#5 Derrick Rose
When the team you are playing for is in a slump, most NBA players are not super excited about that, and Derrick Rose back in 2015 was not. After the team lost six out of eight games, Rose told the media that everyone needs to get on the same page and get their butt kicked.
Derrick Rose’s #Bulls PG records:
- Career PTS (8,001)
- Career PPG (19.7)
- Career FGM (3,102)
- Career BLK (155)
- Season PTS (2,026)
- Season PPG (25.0)
- Season BLK (51)
- Season BPG (.7)
- Season FTM (476)
- 2nd in career AST (2,516) & APG (6.2)
https://t.co/x6FZtb8H65
Rose had already won his NBA MVP and has always been considered a team leader and player on every team he has been on. For the Chicago Bulls, it was even more so because when he was healthy, the Bulls had a chance at the playoffs and maybe even more.
For your star player and leader to make a statement like that is used to bring a team together to spark. The NBA season is long, and it can often have lulls, and it is up to the leaders to get the team out of that.
#4 Draymond Green
Throughout Kevin Durant’s last season with the Golden State Warriors, rumors started that Durant wanted out. A big part was because of the fight he had with Draymond Green. Green has always been a vocal player on the court who plays with a lot of passion. He also plays with a massive chip on his shoulder and can name every player drafted before him.
In a game in 2018, Durant and Green got into a heated argument that got the latter suspended. That argument was often seen where Durant officially decided to leave the Warriors in the upcoming offseason.
Green came out on Carmelo Anthony’s wine podcast and said that Durant would not talk to him after the game and often avoided him. The argument became such a big part of that season that it is often referred to as what broke up one of the best NBA teams. Green is a hyper-competitive player, and his emotions got the better of him at the time. It was something the team and Green dealt with all season.
.@Money23Green and KD talk EVERYTHING:
Their infamous argument against the Clippers 👀
Would they have won 5 more rings? 🏆
KD’s burner accounts 📲
All that and more on “Chips” premiering tomorrow youtu.be/3x6DjeJNd64 https://t.co/lRsRysz0Mc
The good thing about this is that Durant and Green got together after a few years and talked in-depth about the issue between them and this argument.