In the aftermath of a tragic death of a friend, New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns missed a game against the Golden State Warriors. Draymond Green called him out for it.
Green, a Warriors veteran, believed that Towns was trying to duck a game against Golden State for some reason.
In a podcast appearance earlier in the week, the four-time NBA champion speculated that the Knicks star was faking an injury so that he didn’t have to play him or Towns’ former Minnesota Timberwolves teammate Jimmy Butler on Tuesday evening.
But in reality, Towns missed the game in order to mourn the loss of a family friend – Sarah Holtzman, who died of cancer.
Green learned of this after a game against the Brooklyn Nets. He offered condolences, but also plugged his podcast and tried to deflect blame.
‘That’s unfortunate. I’m sorry to hear that. That sucks,’ Green said before adding, ‘But my comments that I made was that “People I heard was this” and that’s what I heard.’
Draymond Green received criticism for spreading a lie about why Karl-Anthony Towns missed a game against the Golden State Warriors earlier this week
Towns missed Tuesday’s game against Golden State due to the death of a close family friend named Sarah Holtzman (left), who reportedly died from breast cancer
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns has revealed he missed Tuesday’s game against the visiting Golden State Warriors due to the death of a close family friend
He concluded, ‘You never wish that on anybody but “The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis” must go on.’
Multiple fans voiced criticism with Green’s response, his lack of ownership of his actions, and a general lack of tact.
‘I know we’re numb to stupid s**t being said atp but this being Draymond Green’s apology is one of the most insane things I’ve ever seen,’ basketball podcaster Frank Barrett posted on X, formerly Twitter. ‘Not even a beat after “apologizing” he’s justifying his pathetic remarks and promoting his awful show. LMAO at anyone who supports this s**t.’
Another person posted, ‘Draymond Green just not a good dude.’
‘Draymond Green talked about needing mental help last season for his outrageously dirty antics on the court, then spreads a senseless lie about Karl-Anthony Towns who missed a game for personal issues after a friend died of cancer. An utter CLOWN,’ another post read.
Butler and Towns had an infamously heated practice in Minnesota back in 2018 while Butler was trying to get traded off the team. Towns has previously said there are no issues between the two of them.
While Towns was away from the team, his girlfriend – Jordyn Woods – posted f**k cancer on her X account. That sparked fears over the Knicks forward’s health, which she clarified.
Towns spoke to the media after his return to the Knicks for Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, saying, ‘This is one of those moments where I had to be there for my family and be there for the kids that lost somebody really special to them.’
