Warriors' Draymond Green makes accusation against media regarding Europeans
European players aren't under the same media pressure to win an NBA title as Americans are, Golden State Warriors star/lightning rod Draymond Green believes.
"I feel like over the past few years, European players [have] not caught the same flak of [not] winning a championship as American players, and I don't understand it," he said Thursday on his podcast.
Green's comments came on the heels of ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith's release of his list of NBA stars under the most pressure this postseason.
Smith's top five included, in order, American-born players Chris Paul of Phoenix, James Harden of Philadelphia and Jayson Tatum of Boston. The only European on the list is Denver's Nikola Jokic, who was ranked fourth. None of the foursome has won an NBA title.
Jokic is followed on Smith's list by Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Jokic should absolutely be under more pressure than the guys in front of him. He's on pace to win his third consecutive MVP and secure the No. 1 seed with perhaps the best roster in the Western Conference.
Smith's list should have included Cameroon-born 76ers star Joel Embiid, who has flamed out in the playoffs repeatedly, and 24-year-old Slovenian-born Luka Doncic, now that he has a Robin (Kyrie Irving) to his Batman in Dallas.
On ESPN's "First Take" on Friday, Smith agreed with Green in one respect.
Regarding Doncic's absence from his list, Smith said, "Luka's not on the list because he's relatively young" and "he was just in the Western Conference finals last year."
But Tatum, who's only a year older than Doncic, made the NBA Finals last season.
European players clearly seem to be held to a different standard.
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