NBA
WATCH: Saturday Night Live mocks Draymond Green with skit about latest suspension
Draymond Green missed his second-of-five games for the Warriors this weekend after receiving a suspension for his scandalous chokehold at the expense of Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert last week. Ever since, he’s been the talk of the town around the league for his inappropriate behavior and was even roasted by Saturday Night Live.
The four-time champion was impersonated by actor Devon Walker, who was invited to the Weekend Update segment as a made-up interview in which he was asked about his contribution to the on-court brawl between Golden State and Minnesota.
“Thanks Che,” said the SNL cast member to host Michael Che. “I appreciate y’all giving me this platform to publicly apologize.”
“OK, so you are sorry?” the newsman answered. “Hell nah,” Walker said. “Uh uh. I can’t wait to do it again.”
The French center also received some imaginary shots from this comedy sketch. “You got to get why the league is mad though, right?” Che asked. “I mean, not really,” Walker (aka Green) said. “It’s not like I choked LeBron or Kevin Durant. We’re talking about Rudy Gobert, the fourth best player in Minnesota.”
The infamous fight was hot on platforms like X (formerly known as Twitter) throughout the week, but I guess no one was expecting it to make to one of the most important mainstream comedy shows in the world.
The veteran star is set to miss three more contest this week, as the Bay Area franchise will play the Houston Rockets on Monday, the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday and the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.
His coach Steve Kerr lamented his player’s unfortunate decisions. “Yes, he definitely took it too far,” he said. “I didn’t have a problem with him getting Rudy off of Klay, because the rule of thumb is you don’t put your hands on another player on the other team, you get your own guy. So, I thought Rudy was wrong for putting his arms on Klay, regardless of his intentions.
“I had no problem with Draymond getting him off of him, but he’s gotta let go. He hung on for 6 or 7 seconds, and it was a terrible visual for the league, for Draymond, for everybody. Draymond was wrong, he knows that, It’s a bad look, the 5 games is deserved, and we move forward.”
Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal defends Green after heated on-court incident with Gobert
Most basketball fans and experts have condemned the Warriors forward, who has a long history of inappropriate behavior against NBA opponents. Nevertheless, Shaquille O’Neal seemed to defend him after he admitted that he would have done something similar if he had been in that situation.
“I don’t like to be a hypocrite of the situation, I would have did the same thing,” the ESPN icon told the press. “You got to stick up for your teammates.”
Shaq defends Draymond Green’s headlock on Rudy Gobert: ‘Would have choked him out too’ https://t.co/P9PvZHdxzL pic.twitter.com/Q2MKhFnZgB
— New York Post (@nypost) November 18, 2023
The former Lakers star then added that he’s been avoiding to criticize Draymond, but still admitted that the player’s actions had been warranted.
“I don’t want to say, ‘Aw, he shouldn’t have did it,’” Shaq expressed. “I’d have did the same thing. If Rudy was there, I would have choked him out, too. When you do those things, the NBA is gonna do what they do. I don’t want to say too harsh. Was it warranted? I don’t know, but I’m not gonna criticize Draymond Green for something I would have did.”