Draymond Green and Dillon Brooks traded verbal jabs and haymakers over the last week, but they showed proper restraint during the first half of the Warriors' game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night at FedExForum.
Toward the end of the first half, Brooks stole a lazy Warriors inbound pass and converted a tough layup around Green.
As Green retrieved the ball, he came face-to-face with Brooks, much to the delight of the fans in attendance.
Green held the ball high and pushed it into Brooks' face. The Grizzlies guard didn't take the bait and cooler heads prevailed, at least for the moment.
The latest beef between the two players began last week when Brooks ripped Green in an interview with ESPN, and the Warriors' star forward waited until Wednesday to respond on his podcast.
Golden State Warriors
"I don't like Draymond at all," Brooks told ESPN's Tim Keown in a story that was published March 3. "I just don't like Golden State. I don't like anything to do with them. Draymond talks a lot. Gets away with a lot, too. His game is cool -- with Golden State -- but if you put him anywhere else, you're not going to know who Draymond is.
"He plays with heart, plays hard, knows the ins and outs of their defense. I guess that's why they like him over there."
Green responded with a methodical, sentence-by-sentence, nearly three-minute tear-down of Brooks.
"[Brooks] said, ‘I don’t like Draymond at all.’ You don’t know me. That’s number one," Green said on "The Draymond Green Show."
"He said, ‘I just don’t like Golden State.' I, quite frankly, wouldn’t like a team that beats me all the time either. That’s number two. ‘I don’t want anything to do with them.’ Quite frankly, you were a little kid in high school watching us win championships. You should be happy that you even witnessed that ... You’re a fan. That’s crazy.
"If you ever wondered why the Memphis Grizzlies is not ready to compete for a championship, look no further than this idiot right here," Green said. "They actually are depending on this guy to help them win a championship, and he says his game is cool. Quite frankly, that just shows how little you know about basketball. That’s where it gets really interesting.
"Your level of understanding the game of basketball is at a fan level. And you’re running around talking about a dynasty? The dynasty starts after you, not with you. That’s just a fact. I know dynasty-like players. They aren’t clowns. That doesn’t work when building a dynasty.
"Take it from me -- I actually know! Clowns don’t work building a dynasty.
"I’m trying to figure out why they like you in Memphis," Green continued. "Or do they like you in Memphis? I’m not sure your teammates like you. Doesn’t lead to winning. I can tell you why they like me [in Golden State]. When you contribute the way I have contributed to winning four championships, they tend to like you.
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"Next time you speak up on me, you should do some soul searching. Next time you speak up on me, I hope you’re in a better situation than you are now, where the guys you play with actually enjoy playing with you because they actually think you’re contributing to winning."
Green and Brooks avoided actual fisticuffs in the first half Thursday. And though nothing transpired in this game, the Warriors and Grizzlies play one more regular-season game on Saturday, March 18.