The end of the story: everything between Draymond Green and Tristan Thompson was quashed by night’s end. According to sources, all involved ended up having a good time.
But the friction that led to sparks in Game 1 of the Warriors-Cavaliers Finals matchup last June, and continued at the conclusion of the Warriors’ Game 4 clinching of the title, first took one more twist last month in Los Angeles.
At a private after-ESPYs party hosted LeBron James, Green’s prophecy in June was fulfilled. The Athletic has learned what went down, or at least a version of it. (The first public reporting about the fracas came from the gossip site Bossip.) But first, the backstory.
Green and Thompson got into a minor scuffle in the final moments of the Warriors’ Game 1 overtime victory after Thompson was ejected. Green tauntingly applauded and repeatedly said “get him out of here!” Thompson took exception and, as he walked by, shoved the ball in Green’s face. The two were immediately separated before Green could retaliate.
Thompson pointed towards the exit, inviting Green to, in essence, step outside. Green waived off the invitation as meaningless.
“I can’t meet him outside (of an NBA game) because I’ll still get fined,” Green told reporters after Game 1. “But I can meet him in the streets any day. … In the summers, you can meet anybody. But all that meet me outside, meet me at the bus, I ain’t going for that. But if he want to see me somewhere else, that’s fine. Any time.”
At the end of the series after Game 4, the teams shared handshakes and hugs on the court. But when Thompson went to shake Green’s hand, the Warriors’ All-Star refused to accept it.
“We ain’t cut from the same cloth,” Green said he told Thompson in the moments following the Warriors clinching back-to-back titles.
In what would be best told by the late great storyteller Charlie Murphy, the “streets” turned out to be the swanky Delilah restaurant in West Hollywood on July 18. Both Green and Thompson were guests of LeBron for this ultra-exclusive affair — which prohibited phones and cameras. None of the attendees expected the on-the-court drama to flare back up in this setting.
Which is why everyone was stunned when Thompson, according to sources, out of nowhere attacked Green.
No argument. No squaring up. No taking it outside.
“It was a sucker punch,” said one source who attended the party. “But, to be honest, it wasn’t really a punch. It was more like a shove.”
It was a face mush, another source described it. Other reports have described it as a legit punch, maybe even a quick one-two.
Whatever it was, Green was incensed, according to the sources.
Again, the two separated before a full altercation could ensue. Several NBA stars, among them LeBron and Kevin Durant, intervened. They were reminded this wasn’t that type of party.
After a conflict resolution session among NBA millionaires, temperatures settled. The party continued with Green and Thompson co-existing without issue, laughing and partying the rest of the night.
“Man, that wasn’t no fight,” one source said. “It was much ado about nothing.”
(Top photo: Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports)
don't@ me until your team wins a championship
Instead of fighting, hit the gym and get better. fukking loser ass nikka 
