2016-17 NBA Awards: The Gary Payton Award for best trash talk of the year
Monday night, the first televised NBA Awards show takes place. Finally, some two months after the end of the 2016-17 NBA regular season, we'll find out who takes home MVP, Rookie of the Year, Executive of the Year, Sixth Man, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and more. However, the annual honors bestowed on players, coaches and executives alike leave something to be desired.
If you're going to have an awards show, you may as well go all out with the type of awards fans really care about. Luckily for you, we at Yardbarker are here to help. In addition to the annual awards the league hands out, we've added a few of our own.
No sport embraces trash talk more than basketball, and the NBA has certainly seen its fair share of talented talkers. From Larry Bird to Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller and beyond, talking smack has become an art form, and perhaps no perfected this art form more than Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton.
So today, in honor of "The Glove," we present our nominees for the Gary Payton Award for best trash talk of the year:
Alex Wong: Draymond Green. It was actually a pretty calm year for Draymond, aside from the fact he talked a lot of trash to Paul Pierce in the non-rivalry that is Clippers-Warriors, and anyone else who got in his way. As the Warriors neared a championship in the Finals, though, the old Draymond came to life.
After losing Game 4 in Cleveland, Draymond said he wasn't bothered by the Cavs fans heckling him because "they don't seem to be the sharpest people around."
After winning the title, Draymond wore a QUICKIE shirt made in the same design as Quicken Loans Arena to the championship parade and then called out LeBron James on stage and on Instagram. So, yeah, this is Draymond Green's award until further notice.
Joe Boland : Russell Westbrook: I know his team lost, and I know his former teammate he was beefing with all season finally got a ring without him, but I will forever love this clip of Russ telling Kevin Durant and the Warriors that he's coming.
He's coming.
Jason Clinkscales: John Wall has a memory of an elephant. Ask Dennis Schroder. While the Wizards/Celtics series was far more memorable, Wall waited for TWO YEARS to pretty much embarrass the Atlanta Hawks’ floor general as revenge for this Instagram post. And he didn’t just do it in-game, but on IG afterward.
Well played, John Wall. Well played.
Shiloh Carder: I am a lifelong Lakers fan, so Draymond Green yelling to Paul Pierce that "you ain't Kobe" was classic. Pierce did clap back that the Warriors won 73 games in 2016 but no title, but that didn't really sting since Golden State would go on to win their second championship. Pierce retired with just the one — four less than Kobe.
By the way, I think the weakest trash talk was the fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder to Kevin Durant. I get they were hurt that KD left, but he had every right to bolt. And they need to remember that they only have a team because the owner ripped it from the fans in Seattle.
Daniel Tran: Draymond Green is versatile modern NBA player, but he is old school in many ways. One of those ways is his trash talk. Let’s start with him basically calling the entire Cleveland Cavalier fan base idiots. If that wasn’t enough, when the Warriors won the championship, he wore this shirt to throw it back in the Cavs' faces.
Oh, and then there was his complete takedown of LeBron James on Instagram. Forget about his flexibility; his trash talk might be his most valuable trait.
Sean Keane: Draymond Green telling Paul Pierce, "Chasing that farewell tour? They don't love you like that." Then he added, "You thought you was Kobe?"
The Warriors trailed by 12 at halftime but then scored 50 points in the third and cruised to a win. Paul Pierce did not enter the game because Doc Rivers didn't love him like that.
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