“Can’t Do All That and Then Play Victim”: Gilbert Arenas Sides With Draymond Green, Calls Out Jusuf Nurkic’s Antics

The Jusuf Nurkic–Draymond Green saga refuses to die. After Green swung at him out of the blue in December and received a month-long suspension, it was not surprising that tempers flared between the two in the latest Warriors-Suns matchup. While Nurkic made the ‘too small’ gesture on the Warriors forward, the premier defender burned him too after a couple of plays. He also helped the Warriors win a close game, aiding Steph’s game-winner and screaming in Nurk’s face.

During the post-game conference, Green blasted Nurk for making the gesture and still getting scored on by a man 70 pounds lighter and much shorter than him. Meanwhile, the Suns Center also expressed in a post-game interview that Green “hasn’t learned anything” and it was a matter of time before he hit someone else.

Further, on his show ‘Gil’s Arena’, Gilbert Arenas alluded to the tense exchanges between the athletes and sided with Green. He called out Jusuf Nurkic’s “antics” and believed that without him, the Suns would have done better against the Warriors.

”You[Nurkic] can’t do all that on the court and then play victim in the media. You shouldn’t be allowed to play today because, without you, they’d[Suns] have won,” opined Arenas.

The rest of the crew also agreed with Arenas and believed that Green’s attitude was essential for Warriros’ success and he “didn’t cross any line’ against Nurk during their latest battle. For them, it was Nurkic’s antics which were out of hand. Then they made a mockery of the idea that the 3x DPOY “learned” something during his suspension.

The panel added that it was his this attitude that helped the franchise land four titles in the first place. As for the Nurkic-Dray saga, it was clear that Gil’s crew was riding for the 4x NBA champion. Meanwhile, the Warriors two-way athlete also took to Instagram and further took shots on Nurk.

Draymond Green claps back at Nurkic again

On his IG, Green addressed Nurkic’s comments about him not deserving a chance. However, Green focused the attention on the game itself. As one of the options on offense and an average defender, the Suns Center couldn’t even touch double-digits scoring and had an off-game overall.

He was outworked in every category by Dray. Considering these metrics, Green clapped back on his IG story with, “What did I do to not deserve a chance? Severely outplay you?” and also tagged Shaquille O’Neal.

He did so because the Lakers legend had backed Green when Nurk asked him to “get help” after the incident. Shaq had stated that Green is “not crazy” and “he’s been playing like this the whole time.” Meanwhile, after the February 10th clash between the Suns and the Warriors, Stephen Curry also criticized Nurkic’s comments. He called the Suns Center’s comments idiotic and stated, “Draymond was in his head. Plain and simple.”

On his IG, the Warriors forward referred to these comments and wrote, “GOAT spoke”.

Moreover, it is obvious that after all the drama, it was Green who kept his calm and performed on the court assisting his team to a nail-biting win. At any rate, it will be interesting what brews when Nurk and Dray meet next. The Suns-Warriros clashes always bring an interesting flavor.