Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green sent his well wishes to Karl-Anthony Towns for the death of his family friend, but he did not take back his comments — an unsubstantiated rumor — about the New York Knicks All-Star big man.
“That’s unfortunate, I’m sorry to hear that,” Green told reporters after the Warriors’ 121-119 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, March 6. “That sucks, but my comments that I made were, you know, ‘People, what I heard was this.’ That’s what I heard. So I do send my well wishes to him and his family.
“It’s inevitable, we all experience death in one way or another, and we’ll all experience it in the same way one day. So it’s unfortunate, you never wish that on anybody, but ‘The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis’ must go on.”
Towns skipped Tuesday’s loss to the Warriors for personal reasons.
“This is one of those moments where I had to be there for my family and be there for the kids that lost somebody really special to them,” Towns said, per AP.
Draymond Green’s KAT Rumor
Green’s half-hearted apology came on the heels of the uninformed and unsubstantiated rumor about Towns he spread on his podcast, which he and Davis, a former Knick and a Warrior, recorded on Wednesday, March 5.
“Some would say [Towns] didn’t play because Jimmy was in the building,” Green said on his podcast. “I saw KAT’s pops at the game yesterday. I got incredible love for the OG, his pops is an incredible man. But yeah, they say KAT didn’t play because Jimmy [Butler] came into town … I don’t know what was hurt. I didn’t look that deep into it to figure out what his injury was or nothing like that.”
Butler and Towns had a falling out when they were with the Minnesota Timberwolves that ended in the infamous practice in 2018 when Butler ripped the front office and his teammates, including Towns, before walking out of the gym and subsequently got his wish to be traded.
Towns had long put his past beef with Butler behind him.
“We had our differences, but we’ve seen each other at All-Stars and we’ve talked,” Towns said in 2023. “I’ve asked how his family was; he’s asked how my family was. I think we’re at a cool spot.”
Backlash From Traditional Media
The outspoken Green, who claimed he is part of the new media, faced backlash not only from the fans but from the traditional media personalities once his original comment went viral on social media.
“This is just a reckless and inappropriate conversation from Draymond and Baron Davis. Wouldn’t have been hard to do a little research or make a phone call before posting,” Stefan Bondy of the New York Post wrote on X.
The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski, who covered Towns in Minnesota, also slammed Green’s irresponsible comments.
“This is utter [expletive],” wrote Krawczynski on X tweet-quoting Green’s clip.
Knicks insider Ian Begley of SNY described Green’s comments as “irresponsible.”
“Draymond Green suggests on his podcast that Karl-Anthony Towns missed Tuesday’s game vs GSW because he wanted to avoid Jimmy Butler. Green casually throwing this out there on his platform without researching the situation is extremely irresponsible,” Begley said.
It’s not the first time Green has publicly attacked Towns. In a message on X earlier this season, he criticized Towns’ defensive effort against Nikola Jokic, saying he didn’t have the “mental edge.” The Knicks won the game against the Nuggets and Jokic was held to 17 points.
Tommy Beer of Knicks Centric Substack newsletter dismissed Green’s comments, destroying the baseless rumor with facts.
“Draymond ignorantly/maliciously suggests KAT was ducking Jimmy Butler on Tuesday. 1. KAT missed the game to comfort his girlfriend after her aunt died from cancer. 2. KAT played Butler in Miami earlier this season and hung 44 points on the Heat. Fellow players need to call out idiots like Draymond for this (expletive),” Beer wrote on X.
