Draymond Green isn’t here for the way some coaches are talking about Giannis Antetokounmpo.
On the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show, the Golden State Warriors forward reacted to Doc Rivers’ criticism of Antetokounmpo after Rivers appeared on Bill Simmons’ podcast and said the two-time MVP doesn’t have a high basketball IQ, is hard to coach, and only plays one way.
Green said Rivers’ remarks reminded him of things Mark Jackson has said, but he drew a line at the way the comments landed once Rivers started questioning Giannis’ IQ and execution.
Draymond responds to Doc Rivers/Doug Christie taking shots at Giannis
— The Draymond Green Show (@DraymondShow) November 12, 2026
"Talking about a top 20, top 30, whatever you wanna say Giannis is on the all time rankings, like that is crazy, if coaches gonna get to the point to where coaches start talking crazy, players should start… pic.twitter.com/HqTHOinNjp
“When Doc says this, it’s similar to Mark Jackson saying that, except when you start saying he doesn’t have a super high IQ, he doesn’t understand execution, those then come off and allow people to take them as personal shots. But I’ll be honest, I don’t think Doc was really taking a shot at him. It definitely came off that way, though.”
Green also pushed back on the idea of discussing Antetokounmpo’s place in the all-time conversation in that tone, saying coaches need to be careful because players could start firing back the same way.
“Talking about a top 20, top 30, whatever you wanna say Giannis is on the all-time rankings, that is crazy. If coaches gonna get to the point to where coaches start talking crazy, players should start talking crazy about coaches too.”
He then spelled out what that could look like if the line between coach criticism and player criticism keeps getting blurred.
“If that barrier’s not gonna be upheld, then the way players speak about coaches, what’s the difference? Why wouldn’t players go in interviews and be like, ‘Yo, Doug Christie sucked last night.
Look what happened to their team. They weren’t weak side low help.’
That’s an indictment on a coach. And so I’d say be very careful with all the Giannis dialogue.”
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