SAN ANTONIO — As he stood toe-to-toe with Victor Wembanyama, it became apparent Draymond Green was not going to back down. Just a few moments after Green rejected the Spurs’ big man, Wembanyama responded by throwing down an alley-oop right over Green’s head.
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As the crowd exploded, Green glared right up at Wembanyama, and the Spurs star responded with a few words. Green, who relishes confrontation, appeared to embrace the gravity of the moment before everyone else, including the teams’ security details, came rushing in.
“I respect the way he responded,” Green said after the Warriors (8-6) beat the Spurs (8-4) 109-108 in an NBA Cup game Friday night. “You don’t ever back down from anybody, and he didn’t. So I respect that.”
In the end, the basket was waved off because Green apparently fouled Wembanyama before the dunk. However, the point was made. The best defender of his generation against the best defender of the next, showing he can reach heights nobody else can.
“I was not trying to prove anything to anybody,” Wembanyama said. “It’s just, at some point, just like anybody, for me at least, somebody speaks to you a certain way, you have to respond in a certain way. That’s just how it is.”
A four-time champion whose guile allows him to stand up to a man a foot taller than him and guard him better than anyone else in the game. Green has been giving Wembanyama fits, but Wembanyama is inevitable.
“My best answer is always on the court. That’s what hurts them the most,” Wembanyama said in French, according to L’Equipe’s Maxime Aubin. “(Green) went completely silent when I dunked on him.”
Green appreciated bringing out the best in his opponent by bringing out his best. Wembanyama finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, but couldn’t match Steph Curry’s 49 points, while Green had a team-high eight assists.
The Warriors center was more frustrated with the double standard he felt with how the whole fracas played out.
“It’s good to see him show emotion. I like when guys show emotion,” Green said. “I just wish that if I can yell in someone’s face and then a teammate can come grab me and nothing happens — because if I yell in someone’s face and grab someone, I get suspended indefinitely.”
Wembanyama got the cathartic release he needed after battling Green in two consecutive games. But Green got the last laugh, boxing Wembanyama out on the final shot of the game to make sure he couldn’t get a winning tip-in if the ball caromed his way.
In the end, the satisfaction of the big dunk faded away when the win slipped from the Spurs’ grasp.
“Did I enjoy it? Good question. I don’t know,” Wembanyama said. “I’m not enjoying the moment right now.”
