Draymond Green does a lot of talking. Some of that jabbering apparently helped to motivate an opponent this week.
Speaking after Friday’s matchup against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, Green said Embiid, who went off for 46 points on the evening, called him out after the final buzzer. Embiid was unhappy about Green's recent comments regarding two-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
“He said, ‘You know why I played like that tonight? You said Joker was the hardest person to guard in the league. So I took that personal,'” Green said of Embiid.
He then added a playful note, saying, "So I wanna tell y’all Joel is the hardest person to guard.”
Here is the full video of Green speaking on Embiid.
For all of this chatter, Embiid’s motivation only took the 76ers so far against the defending champions. His 46 points served as loud window dressing in what finished as a 120-112 defeat.
As for the debate over who is the tougher cover between Jokic and Embiid, there is no one right answer. The former dominates with patience, precision and the occasional display of brute force while the latter does so with power, craftiness (especially in drawing fouls) and guard-like footwork.
But the two big men often now find themselves pitted against each other -- even off the court -- especially as this year's MVP debate has grown increasingly more toxic.
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