Clippers-Warriors felt too clean this past Sunday; too clean for one of the more phyiscal team rivalries in the NBA. Fortunately, reserve Dahntay Jones gave us something to add to the league’s best rivalry. Here’s a miniature recap of “bump-gate”.
The Bump
In comparison to previous Clippers-Warriors game, the last iteration was quite boring as the Warriors, led by a small-ball lineup the Clippers failed to properly matchup with, skated past the Clippers.
Well, that was until the post-game interview where Clippers guard/forward Dahntay Jones bumped into Warriors forward Draymond Green during his post-game interview.
The. Face. Says. Everything.
The Response
If actions speak louder than words, it’s borderline impossible for Draymond Green to top the facial expression seen in the Vine above after Dahntay Jones bumped into him. But he did, somehow, calling out Jones’ lack of playing time as reason for the bump.
“Me getting suspended and him getting suspended, it’s different. When you don’t play, that’s probably his role on that team,” said Green on the bump. “I can’t afford to feed into that, to where I get into it with him after the game, and get fined, get suspended and hurt my team, when if he gets suspended, they may not even notice.”
Green then accused Jones of seeking attention, using the bump as his lone chance for public recognition due to a low player status in the NBA.
“That’s really smart, too, when it’s on ABC, and obviously the post-game interview is the highlight of that segment, and you bump somebody. He got some camera time, which he needed, because there wasn’t much celebration from their bench today, so you didn’t see him much.”
Ouch.
While social media hyped up the incident between Dahntay Jones and Draymond Green and blog sites covered it across the internet, Jones didn’t believe the incident was worth the coverage it was receiving.
$$
It’s pretty clear the NBA didn’t take kindly to Jones’ post-game bump, fining the veteran swing man $10,000 (Jones plans to appeal the fine, per Arash Markazie of ESPN Los Angeles).
The Reaction to the Reaction
Jones didn’t take too kindly to Green’s comments about him.
“Some people like to draw attention to themselves and make themselves bigger than what they are,” Jones said. “I think it was more him trying to draw attention to himself and wanting to be the reason why somebody else got fined. It is what it is.”
To defend his player, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers threw some shade toward Draymond Green’s way, calling the Defensive Player of the Year candidate a fake tough guy.
“Wow, that was such a violent bump,” Rivers said of Jones’ bump. “It was amazing. I told Dahntay, ‘You have to be careful; that was too hard.’ I guess that tough guy in Golden State, that bump was too hard for him, clearly the way he reacted, my goodness. I thought that guy was tough.”
Now What
In the grand scheme of things, the bump means very little.
But in terms of the rivalry between the Clippers and Warriors, it takes things to the next level, if only because “bump-gate” creates another talking point whenever these two teams play.
Because of Jones’ place in the rotation, barring injury and foul trouble, we won’t get to see Jones and Green take their emotionss out on each other on the floor, but Rivers may have something up his sleeve the next time these two clubs face off (March 31 to be exact).
More from Clipperholics
- Grade the trade: Clippers shockingly land Trae Young in wild proposal
- 3 of the most overpaid players on the LA Clippers’ roster
- Trading for this player covers the Clippers’ biggest weakness
- How will the LA Clippers fare in the in-season tournament?
- Why the LA Clippers should steer clear of recent gold medalist waiver