Draymond Green says Dillon Brooks tried to 'bait' him into technical foul

MEMPHIS — Draymond Green disappointed Dillon Brooks on Thursday night.

After they swapped barbs via the media, with Green responding to Brooks' recent criticism of him with a scorching segment on his podcast Wednesday, Brooks looked forward to continuing the conversation face-to-face when the Memphis Grizzlies played host to the Golden State Warriors. An opportunity presented itself when Brooks stole the ball and drove for a layup over Green late in the second quarter before they bumped chests.

At the time, Green said nothing.

«I kind of wanted that play, just to see what he was going to say,» Brooks said after the short-handed Grizzlies' 131-110 win at FedExForum. «But he took the media approach with that and didn't say nothing, which is cool. I was expecting him to talk a little bit more, but I guess he needs to get all his facts together and talk.»

After the game, Green shrugged off questions about Brooks other than accusing Brooks of unsuccessfully attempting to bait him into a technical foul, which would have been Green's 16th of the season, resulting in a one-game suspension.

«He thought he would like bait me, like he gets baited,» Green said. «I get technical fouls when I want to get technical fouls. I don't get baited into technical fouls. So, I think that's probably the difference between me and him. If I do that to him, it'd be a double tech, because he'd respond. But it's not a double tech, because I didn't respond. One of us are baitable, one of us aren't.»

Green made a point to scoff at the suggestion that the Grizzlies and Warriors had developed a rivalry. In his mind, Memphis hasn't accomplished enough as a franchise to merit rival status with Golden State, which eliminated the Grizzlies in the Western