The Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason matchup Sunday night featured a familiar sight — Draymond Green taunting an opponent.
Midway through the game, Los Angeles center Deandre Ayton stepped to the line for a pair of free throws. After Ayton sank the first, cameras appeared to catch rookie forward Dalton Knecht seemingly trash-talking the Golden State veteran near the paint.
Green — never one to back down — quickly fired back.
“He talking s—t like he ain’t get traded and sent back. F—k wrong with him,” Green said.
The moment Green referenced came from one of the strangest twists of last season. In the span of just a few days, Dalton Knecht went from being a Los Angeles Laker, to a Charlotte Hornet, and back to a Laker again — all before he’d even unpacked.
At the February trade deadline, the Lakers agreed to send Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2030 pick swap and their 2031 first-round pick to Charlotte in exchange for 7-foot center Mark Williams. But the deal collapsed after Williams reportedly failed his physical, nullifying the trade and sending Knecht back to Los Angeles.
Knecht later told reporters the whirlwind felt “like a movie” — a surreal experience of being traded, traveling to meet his new team, and then returning to the same locker room days later.
Green, known for his fiery competitiveness, clearly hasn’t forgotten.
Preseason or not, Green showed once again he doesn’t need the regular season to bring his usual regular-season energy.
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