If every player who was ever struck – accidentally or not – by Draymond Green sued the Golden State Warriors star, NBA commissioner Adam Silver might not have talked the defensive stalwart out of retirement. After all, Green’s antics have seen him kick Steven Adams in the groin, apply a modified rear-naked choke on Rudy Gobert, stomp Domantas Sabonis in the abdomen, wrestle Bradley Beal to the floor and punch Lebron James in his private parts.
However, it appears Green’s latest non-basketball play which saw him clock Jusuf Nurkic in the face could lead to actual consequences – more than just an NBA-imposed suspension. According to unsubstantiated rumors, the Phoenix Suns center could be contemplating pressing charges against Green, which has irked Hall of Famer and basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal.
“I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I have a problem with that,” Shaq said on “The Big Podcast with Shaq”. “Because one, it just shows how soft you are as a big man. I’m just going to keep it at that. I’m not gonna go too deep into that, but if you do that [press charges], you’re gonna ruin what I created in the Big Man alliance. The reason Draymond hit you, sir, is because he knows you’re not gonna hit him back.
“So, for you to say, ‘Uh, I wanna call the cops and press charges,’ bro, did I press charges when Charles [Barkley] hit me with the ball in the face? Huh?” Shaq continued. “Did the New York Knicks press charges against the Miami Heat for the brawl [in 1998]? Did anybody press charges from when Michael Jordan fought Reggie Miller? So, for you to even think about pressing charges, you’re soft.”
“This is something I’d tell you to your face if I saw you,” Shaq said. “You can’t press charges – you just gotta get your big [self] up and hit somebody back. How about that?”
Shaq proceeded to mock Nurkic for laying on the floor “with his big soft [self]” and asking Phoenix Suns teammate Kevin Durant to urge the referee to slap Green with a technical foul, rather than taking matters into his own hands, adding, “You’re soft and big guys shouldn’t be soft.”
In conclusion, Shaq stressed that Nurkic should “no longer be called a big man” if he chooses to get litigious over the Green incident.