“Sent the clown back to the Circus” Draymond Green reacts as JJ Redick blasts Chris Russo on First Take


“Sent the clown back to the Circus” Draymond Green reacts as JJ Redick blasts Chris Russo on First Take

Draymond Green, JJ Redick and Chris Russo

Draymond Green is one happy man on the earth, as his outspoken behavior and competitive nature, which were somewhat criticized by the media got support and appreciation from former player-turned NBA analyst JJ Redick.

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 After the Game 1 ejection, Draymond Green had to leave the FedEx Forum court once again, but this time it was due to injury. Green was booed on his way back to the locker room and spontaneous Draymond responded with a “middle finger” sign towards the booing crowd. Chris Russo – famously known as “Mad Dog”, had pointed out this behavior and added that such things should not be tolerated and he should shut up and play his game.

The last part of his comment – “shut up and play” proved to be the catalyst for the next few minutes of heated verbal exchange between him and the rest of the crew on national television. JJ Redick and show host Stephen A Smith objected to the “shut up and play” mindset, which received a stern reaction from the person in discussion – Draymond Green.

Draymond Green – an outspoken player or just a bag of antics?

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After the middle finger incident, DrayMagic responded to it in a post-game press conference too, but rather unapologetic than being regretful about it. While targeting Golden State Warriors’ star performer, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo gave him some advice that did not go well with fellow members on the panel that day.

Mad Dog said, “He’s hard to root for. Just shut up and play will you please? America is tired of Draymond Green. I deal with him constantly. The fans, San Francisco fans are a different story.” ‘First Take’ host Stephen A Smith tried to stop Chris at that very point, but Russo was inflow as he had many things to say about Draymond Green’s recent actions.

Draymond Green Reacting on the finger incident in Memphis

Russo added, “Oh they’re tired of it. Just be quiet and play. We all know he has a great skill set for that team but who in the world is sitting there; he’s so polarizing, I can’t root for him,” JJ Redick and Stephen didn’t like the second time use of the infamous “shut up and play” comment when Redick smacks Russo for it.

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JJ calmly began with “I want to take a little umbrage with this ‘shut up and play’ because that has the same sort of connotations that the ‘shut up and dribble’ crowd has towards athletes and I have a real problem with that. Specifically with Draymond the idea that America is tired of him,” then he turned on the heat a bit as he mentioned the Draymond’s outside court actions syncing his behavior.

Draymond Green Winning 3 NBA Championship rings with Golden State Warriors
Draymond Green Winning 3 NBA Championship rings with Golden State Warriors

JJ added, “You do realize the guy has a very popular podcast where he hosts and he talks, himself, for the majority of the episode and people listen to that. He signed a talent deal with Turner because people want to hear what Draymond has to say.” Supporting Draymond’s work behind the mike, Redick said, “The reason they want to hear what Draymond has to say is that just like in this press conference, he is real, authentic, and unfiltered. You can’t take away what makes a player great so there’s no “shut up and play”.

JJ hosted Draymond on his “The old man and the three” podcast a while ago and appeared on Dray’s podcast many times before. JJ and Smith took a jibe at Fox Sports reporter Laura Ingrahm for starting the “Shut up and dribble” phrase, which later received huge disapproval from fans and players too. Redick made sure there are no stones untouched as he counters every point Russo was trying to make to possibly shatter Green’s reputation.   

Draymond Green did share the part of the video and commented on the post as “Sent the clown back to the Circus”. The fine for “the finger” incident is not confirmed yet, but Draymond already has accepted it in the press conference.

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