Draymond claims Jenkins ‘took a dive' in Warriors-Grizzlies scuffle

Draymond claims Jenkins ‘took a dive' in Warriors-Grizzlies scuffle originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

After another acrimonious scuffle between Draymond Green and the Grizzlies that resulted in Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins falling to the court, the Warriors forward had a controversial take on the situation that added fuel to the fire of controversy.

Green addressed the incident on Thursday’s episode of his eponymous podcast, explaining that he always has been chippy with Grizzlies forward Sati Aldama and guard Desmond Bane.

After getting into an altercation with Aldama, Bane grabbed Green’s arm from behind, prompting the 34-year-old to shove the Grizzles guard. When teammate Gary Payton II came to intervene by trying to pull him away, Green accidentally pushed him into Jenkins.

In Green’s mind, Jenkins purposefully fell to the court to make a scene and make him look bad.

“And then Taylor Jenkins took a dive,” Green said. “And Taylor Jenkins milked it. And I could not believe that he milked it like that and he’s laying on the court milking it and their trainer comes up to him and one of our players as he’s walking back to our bench and the trainer asks Taylor Jenkins if he’s ok and he’s like ‘I’m ok, I’m ok,’ like trying to milk it.

“And that to me is absolutely insane. I told you all it would be players trying stuff and I know they were trying to get me kicked out of the game…but a coach taking a dive and then milking it is crazy.”

In the aftermath of the altercation, both Bane and Green were assessed technical fouls, though neither was thrown out of the game.

In what was another highly contested contest, the Warriors looked like they were headed to yet another loss against a shorthanded team before flipping the switch in the second half and cruising to a 137-116 victory over the Grizzlies.

Ever since the two teams faced off in a six-game 2015 Western Conference semifinals series, the two teams have had plenty on animosity for each other, with Wednesday’s incident and Green’s comments representing the latest chapter in the rivalry.

The victory moved the Warriors to 18-18 at home this year as they face a critical stretch of road games against many of the Western Conference’s top teams to close out the regular season.

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