Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors will host the Miami Heat for the first time this season. It will be the first time Green and Hassan Whiteside will share the court since their offseason Twitter beef.
Thanks to national media analysts like Charles Barkley, Draymond Green will always be “too small” for many fans and experts. Despite proving time and time again that he’s more than capable of sliding to the center spot and successfully defending larger players, the narrative won’t go away.
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Green has become one of, if not, the best power forwards in the entire league and, with a championship under his belt, has earned the respect of many of his peers. One, however, decided that Green’s size is a weakness that he could easily exploit.
Hassan Whiteside, the Miami Heat’s center, took to Twitter to express his feelings about Green.
And, of course, being the fierce competitor he is, Green responded.
Tomorrow pic.twitter.com/evRLLzAZto
— Carlos Murillo (@LosMurillo126) January 11, 2016
Shots fired.
For years, many in the NBA have tried to make “small ball” work and it seems that the Warriors–with Green in the middle of it all–have perfected it. He can handle all-world bigs like Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol on the defensive end while doubling as an important offensive playmaker. Listed at a generous 6’7, Green’s size isn’t a weakness–it’s an advantage.
On the other side, Whiteside has found his spot in the NBA as a part of the Heat as a defensive anchor. He leads the league in blocks and is fourth in rebounds per game. But Whiteside’s tweets were in reference to his offensive abilities where he’s been solid, averaging 12 points on just under 60%. However his post game that he tweeted about hasn’t been great, shooting just 38% on his post-ups, where he’s only getting opportunities 21% of the time, according to NBA.com’s stats.
Whiteside plays just 29 minutes per game as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra opts to take him out to go smaller. Ironic.
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Green and Whiteside play with surely be matched up with each other at some point during the Monday night showdown. Green often steps his game up when the matchup is big; either against a fellow elite power forward like Blake Griffin or in an NBA Finals rematch. Both big men are tough competitors having fantastic years so it’ll be a good matchup to watch.
Of course, that’s if Spoelstra doesn’t take Whiteside out when Green moves to the 5 as part of the Warriors’ “Death Lineup.”