Draymond Green takes aim at Jalen Brunson: ‘They’re not contenders’
The Warriors forward made headlines by claiming that there are no real championship contenders in the Eastern Conference this year.
The 2025/26 NBA season is only a few weeks old but already there have been some big claims made by one of the league’s most decorated players.
Four-time NBA champion Draymond Green has been with the Golden State Warriors since being drafted in 2012, playing a key part in four championship teams. After a disappointing Conference Semifinal defeat last season the Warriors are out to win another championship this season and has made a promising 4-2 start.
Speaking on The Draymond Green Show recently, Green claimed that the Eastern Conference is significantly weaker that the West and dismissed one of the potential challengers: “The Knicks, I just personally don’t believe that they’re contenders.”
“I don’t think they have what it takes to win at the highest level. I think you can stifle their offense, and make it hard on them. Also on the defensive end, any time you have a couple guys on the floor at the same time, that are really key guys, who don’t really want to defend, it makes it tough to win at the highest level. And so that’s my question with the Knicks."
CBS Sports reports that Green may be speaking about Jalen Brunson, the 29-year-old point guard who helped the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
However there is reason to believe that the Knicks might be a different proposition this season. Soon after that historic Conference Finals appearance, the Knicks dispensed with the services of former head coach Tom Thibodeau and brought in Mike Brown to implement a new system.
Brown favors a more modern, movement-focused approach that should make the Knicks a tougher proposition to face. His ‘pace and space’ philosophy is a contrast to Brunson’s more languid style of play. The Knicks have had a tough start to the season but it is still too early to fully evaluate Brown’s impact on the team and decide whether the team can truly be considered NBA contenders.
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