Draymond Green torches Hornets for tanking ‘in plain sight’ – NBC Sports Bay Area & California
Draymond Green called it like he sees it.
The Warriors forward, on the latest episode of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” called out the Charlotte Hornets for, what he believes to be, blatant tanking.
Green, in discussing Golden State’s 136-116 win over the Hornets on Saturday at Chase Center, pointed to Charlotte’s decision to remove star point guard LaMelo Ball from the starting lineup leading up to Saturday’s game, as one of multiple instances where he believes the Hornets were tanking.
“The Charlotte Hornets are a team that is tanking right in your face in plain sight,” Green said. “The fact they have LaMelo Ball coming off the bench I found very interesting. They are a much worse team and so easy to guard when LaMelo’s not on the floor.”
Green also pointed to Ball exiting the Warriors’ 132-125 win over Charlotte on Dec. 31 at a certain point in the game after a strong performance as another example of Charlotte tinkering with its star’s impact on the floor.
The Warriors forward was baffled when he found out Ball wasn’t starting on Saturday night, and believes removing him from that lineup makes Charlotte’s offense much more manageable for opposing teams to defend.
“[Saturday] night we start our meeting and we’re going through the staring lineup and I’m looking, like ‘Melo not playing?’ and they’re like ‘No, he’s playing. He’s coming off the bench’ and I’m sitting there looking like ‘Huh?What? He coming off the bench?'” Green recalled.
“LaMelo Ball not starting? The offense was so simple to guard when LaMelo not on the floor.”
Hornets coach Charles Lee and Ball himself have been asked about the star guard not starting some games in recent weeks, and both have pointed to load management as the primary reason for the decision. Charlotte’s game against the Warriors on Saturday was the first night of a back-to-back, with the Hornets playing the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Green is a big fan of Ball’s game, and believes having him on the court elevates the players around him, especially forward Miles Bridges. So removing Ball from the starting lineup or benching him at certain points in games lowers the entire offense’s potential.
“You have a point guard that is built to set all of those guys up, and he’s on the bench on that team, I don’t get it,” Green added. “They are tanking in plain sight. And you know they aren’t looking to trade LaMelo, because they’re bringing him off the bench. You’d be playing him, so everyone can see him and get excited. So they’re really just tanking in plain sight and I think that sucks.”
“The real problem is these teams that be tanking, and that’s been a problem for a very long time … and it’s still a problem. You’ve got teams tanking right in your face, bringing LaMelo off the bench. Ridiculous. I thought that was whack.”
Tanking is not a new phenomenon in the NBA, as Green mentioned, but now with the league considering new rules to combat it, including potentially restricting top draft picks and pick protections and ensuring teams can’t pick within the top four picks in consecutive seasons, it soon could become less and less of a problem.
It’s clear Green believes Charlotte should be one of the first teams reprimanded.
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