Warriors’ Draymond Green danced with Grizzlies fans after his team’s loss, but why?
Despite all the fanfare and of course the Green’s dance moves the Grizzlies still have their backs against the wall, but Wednesday night’s performance was something to take note of.
It’s not likely that anyone could have foreseen the heavy loss which the Warriors suffered on Wednesday night, but one of their players wasn’t phased, in fact he embraced it.
Steph Curry, “Whoop that trick,” and the making of a rivalry
It’s fair to say that on Wednesday night when the Golden State Warriors faced off against the Memphis Grizzlies, nobody could have seen what occured coming. The Grizzlies, trailing in the series and without their star Ja Morant were on the brink of elimination. Indeed, the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year has been sidelined after suffering a bone bruise to his right knee in Game 3. That of course did not matter as the Grizzlies took apart Golden State on the way to a 134-95 blowout win. There were of course the usual suspects like Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane at the forefront of the mauling, but it must be said that Memphis’ entire squad had a hand in demolishing the Warriors.
As for the infamous song “Whoop that trick” which incidentally comes from the 2005 basketball inspired film “Hustle & Flow,” it was during a timeout in the fourth quarter when Memphis was leading 126-80 that it began to play on the PA system inside the arena. Fans of course began to swing towels in the air while chanting. Why all the fuss and why the song? Golden State’s Steph Curry can be thanked for that, after his pre-game comments when he indicated that his team’s game plan would be to “whoop that trick.” Needless to say the Grizzlies faithful loved every moment of it, but surprisingly so did Draymond Green who began to wave his own towel while even throwing in a few dance moves for good measure. As for Curry, the Warriors’ talisman responded with a wry smile knowing he had to concede defeat to the fans.
Warriors’ Draymond Green explains why he danced
Post game there was no doubt what one of the questions Green would have to face was. Asked about the tongue in cheek moment, Green responded saying that the Warriors were just as happy to receive trash talk as they were to give it. “They not gonna whoop that trick alone. We gonna whoop that trick together if we’re gonna whoop that trick,” Green said. “One thing I don’t respect is people who only bring it when they’re winning, embrace crowds when you’re winning. We call those front-runners. We’re not front-runners. We got our ass kicked. That’s alright. It happens. But you don’t be a front-runner. When you spew it out, you gotta be willing to take it and not hide from it, not duck from it, not run from it. Embrace it.”
One has to appreciate Green’s honesty as well as willingness to get down. As for the series, the Grizzlies will definitely feel encouraged after their performance, knowing that they can tangle with the best even without their star. With that said, if they can’t repeat the same on the road in Game 6 it’ll mean the end of their playoff campaign.