NBA

Jusuf Nurkic regrets defending Draymond Green: ‘I take everything back, he don’t deserve a chance’

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Jusuf Nurkic can’t believe he was concerned for Draymond Green, after the Warriors player hit him back in November and was suspended indefinitely by the NBA. For the first time since that altercation, both athletes faced each other this past weekend and got involved in yet another clash, which was followed by postgame drama.

In a very heated contest, Golden State got a last-second win, so the four-time champion really rubbed it in the Phoenix team’s face. During 48 minutes, both players were extremely physical and taunted each other constantly.

After Green’s infamous 12-game suspension, the Suns center voiced concern despite the controversy. “What’s going on with him? I don’t know. Personally, I feel like that brother needs help. I’m glad he not try to choke me,” he said in relation to another incident Draymond had with Rudy Gobert this season.

However, after their latest matchup, the Bosnian couldn’t believe he ever showed care for the Bay Area man. “It’s sad. He didn’t learn anything, man. It’s just a matter of time. He’s gonna [hit] somebody else again, so I take everything back that I said. He don’t deserve a chance,” he said in regret.

After the contest, the press was all over Draymond, as he delivered his own share of criticism for his opponent. “He tried to get in my head, and it didn’t work. If he wants me to walk around quiet like him, I’m never gonna do that. Quiet guys don’t win, so yeah, I thought I was pretty great tonight. So yeah, he can keep riding the same horse that he rode in on. He can ride his ass on out of here on the same horse. It ain’t working,” he said.

During this campaign, the San Francisco club own a 17-18 record and have already played in six games which have been decided by one point. The Warriors lead the league with 35 clutch matches, and all four clashes against the Suns have been decided in the final moments.

“We were due,” said Golden State coach Steve Kerr. “We were due for one of these tight games to go our way. But the guys earned it. It didn’t just happen.”

Curry felt the need to defend his teammate and even defined Nurkic’s comment as “idiotic”

“Draymond was in his head,” said the Golden State point guard after the heated match. “Plain and simple.” According to Stephen Curry, Draymond played fairly and was in his own right to go head to head psychologically with Jusuf and taunt his rival.

“Easy to throw stones across the way. We have no idea what you’re talking about,” the superstar explained about Nurkic’s remarks. “You can tell somebody is in your head when you go out of your way to you know, celebrate. Funny how the refs didn’t see that.”

According to Stephen, his last-second three-pointer was all “just muscle memory to shoot. You live with it. Thankfully, it worked out.” The star ended the match with 30 points and dropped nine beyond the arc.

“Only a shot that I think he would take,” rookie Brandin Podziemski said. “A regular person would probably take a dribble or something like that. I just tried to get it to him. No matter how long it took.”

Rival Bradley Beal also recognized Curry’s greatness: “He’s the best to ever shoot it. So you know the result after that.”