'Going To Look Like A Complete Idiot': Draymond Green Has A Stern Message For Emmanuel Acho Amid Jayson Tatum-Kevin Durant Drama

One of the sillier stories going around in the NBA right now is the beef between Kevin Durant and former NFL player turned sports analyst Emmanuel Acho. Durant called him out on X (formerly Twitter) for saying that the Boston Celtics were a “mentally tougher” team without Jayson Tatum. Hours later, the Celtics got blown out by the New York Knicks 119-81, with Tatum on the sidelines due to his Achilles injury. It was the end of their postseason run.

“Dudes who quit football early to pursue media talkin mental toughness, cut it out,” Durant wrote. And it seems like he won the battle. Still, it was strange that Acho tried to argue anyway, and four-time NBA champ Draymond Green spoke about this feud in the latest edition of his podcast with co-host Baron Davis.

“An NBA Championship requires a level of mental toughness that most people have no idea even requires,” said Green. “You know why? You got to get there to understand.”

Green is one of the toughest, most hard-working—some would say craziest—players in the game today. He never shows signs of backing down or crumbling under pressure, no matter how difficult the situation appears. So when he speaks on the subject, considering his success, you listen.

The future Hall of Famer then assessed what Acho said about Tatum.

“To say Jayson Tatum doesn’t have mental toughness, for me, it just don’t work,” he added. “Because Jayson Tatum is an NBA Champion. You can’t say they’re a better team without Jayson Tatum. You just going to look like a complete idiot if you say that.”

Green didn’t stop there. In his view, Acho’s attempt at that talking point came off as someone speaking just for the sake of speaking. That’s not to say Green didn’t give the analyst his flowers, though. “I thought Acho made great points about ‘you study something.’ That’s all our league is.”

Watching tape is essential in any sport, particularly in the NBA. Coaches need time to scheme, and players need to prepare how to attack their opponents on offense and halt their momentum on defense. You know who was really hard to scheme against? Tatum. Acho probably should’ve realized that sooner.

Acho had spoken on Green earlier this week, too

It’s open season for players to start calling out Acho—particularly Green, who the analyst also spoke about heavily this past week. Green made headlines after picking up a flagrant foul in Game 3 of the Golden State Warriors’ playoff matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves, then told the media afterward that he was sick of being portrayed as the angry Black man.

Acho, who wrote a New York Times bestseller on that very subject, believed that Green was speaking on things he didn’t understand. “I have given more to this conversation than tweets. More to this conversation than an Instagram post,” Acho said in his FS1 segment about Dray.

He then listed some of the more controversial moments from the four-time champion’s career—like punching Jordan Poole, stepping on Domantas Sabonis, and getting physical with other stars. “You have the most technical and most flagrant fouls since you entered the league. Draymond Green. You’re not an angry black man. You’re just a dirty basketball player,” he barked. 

It would be difficult to call Acho wrong in this case. Green has earned a great deal of respect in the league for his defensive prowess and his ability to wear teams down. It’s the very reason the Dubs built a dynasty between 2014 and 2019—probably longer, considering they won in 2022 and continue to compete in the postseason seemingly every year.

But Acho also needs to be careful. One day, he might say something that doesn’t sit well with someone like Green.