The story in the NBA this week revolved around what occurred in the Golden State Warriors locker room after their loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. Draymond Green had a costly turnover in the last seconds of regulation that sent the game into overtime, and Kevin Durant was not pleased. This led to a tense and heated exchange after the game (and somewhat during the game) and ultimately resulted in Draymond Green becoming suspended for apparently crossing the line.
This is not the first time that emotions have boiled over and caused two teammates to fight (either physically or verbally). Who can forget the brutal altercation between Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis in practice while they were teammates on the Chicago Bulls last year that resulted in a concussion and fractured face for Mirotic. There has also been incidents in which a teammate takes out his frustration with another teammate on a poor, unsuspecting whiteboard, as was the case when LeBron James suffered a hand contusion by doing so after J.R. Smith committed the now infamous error at the end of regulation in Game 1.
What’s the solution to all of this tension that is bound to arise between teammates in the most intense moments during the course of a season? Isaiah Thomas has an idea.
It’s an interesting idea, for sure. This way, nobody gets too hurt and players still get to take out their frustration. Who knows if it would be enough to solve the conflict between Green and Durant, but it’s definitely an intriguing thought to picture teammates going at each other with boxing gloves in those moments. Hopefully the Nuggets do not find themselves in need of gloves for the foreseeable future.
