Draymond’s cheap shots at Rodney McGruder didn’t sit well with Wayne Ellington.
“I think that’s the fake tough guy stuff”
Pistons benchwarmer Rodney McGruder became the most-discussed player in the NBA on Saturday, but not for anything he did during his team’s blowout loss to Golden State.
McGruder got some garbage time minutes at the end of the 118–91 rout, but it was what he did after the buzzer that caused Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to trash him. As the teams filtered toward the locker room, McGruder approached the Warriors bench and said something to Golden State rookie Juan Toscano-Anderson, who was not in uniform. Thompson, who was part of the broadcast crew for the game, wasn’t impressed.
Asked to explain what was going on down on the floor, Thompson said, “I don’t know. This guy might be out of the league pretty soon. He’s probably mad about that. Who knows? He’s over here trying to start something like he’s a good player or something. Bro, get out of here.”
Green was also asked about the incident after the game and spent nearly two minutes eviscerating McGruder and Wayne Ellington. (According to Green, McGruder approached Toscano-Anderson to deliver a message about something the rookie had said to Ellington in the first half.) A bemused Draymond had a few choice lines, including, “When the f--- did Rodney McGruder become the tough guy on the team?” and “I know ain’t nobody scared of no Rodney McGruder.”
After Green and Thompson’s comments went viral, Ellington stood up for his teammate on Sunday.
“First of all, I think it’s very unprofessional and definitely not classy for somebody to attack Rodney’s professional career the way that it was attacked,” Ellington told reporters. “Rodney, I’ve known him since we’ve played in Miami together with the Heat. He’s one of the most hard-working, humble and down-to-earth, guys that there is in this league. So, for somebody to try to attack him like that I think is very unfair.”
While Green was accusing McGruder of acting tough, Ellington called out Green for the very same thing.
“And then, guys call him, you know all this tough guy talking all this stuff,” Ellington continued. “Rod has never, ever tried to portray or act like a tough guy ever in this league. To be honest, the guy over there, Juan, he’s the one who started the whole thing. Rod is a man of respect, like myself, and I felt like he took offense to whatever the guy was saying to me in the first half. I just kind of laughed it off and kept on going. But obviously stuck with Rod and as my brother, he took it upon himself to go and check the temperature on the situation—and that’s what men do. We talk to each other eye-to-eye, face-to-face. So, you know there. There’s never been any type of some guy approach with Rod.
“So, for Draymond to sit up and talk all that type of crazy stuff behind a microphone, I think that’s the fake tough guy stuff, to be honest with you. So, I’m only gonna talk about this situation once man and put it behind us. But I just think it’s unfair for them guys to attack my man like that, and I appreciate Rod and I love him like a brother for whatever he did do that I know wasn’t tough guy stuff. He just probably walked over there to try to clear the air with the guy.”
The video appears to back up Ellington’s version of events. Look at the expression on McGruder’s face as he talks with Toscano-Anderson. He doesn’t look angry. He looks like he’s just asking Toscano-Anderson what happened.
The accusations lobbed by Green and Ellington about guys acting tough are also spot-on. It’s 2021. No one is actually going to start throwing fists over something a guy said to somebody else on an NBA court. That’s how you get fined, suspended and lose your sponsorships. It’s not 1985. There’s nothing wrong with McGruder trying to defuse the situation instead of knocking Toscano-Anderson’s block off.
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