In a candid YouTube conversation, NBA veterans Draymond Green and Fred VanVleet examine the recent controversy surrounding Joel Embiid’s alleged physical altercation with a reporter. They frame the incident within the broader context of relentless 24‑hour media scrutiny that fuels the league’s multi‑billion‑dollar media rights deals and player contracts. Both players criticize the reporter’s decision to invoke Embiid’s late brother and son, calling it “out of pocket,” and discuss the fine line between defending personal dignity and condoning violence. The dialogue shifts to the responsibilities of players, PR staff, and teams to maintain professionalism, protect athletes, and set standards for future generations. A recurring theme is the invasive presence of reporters in locker rooms—questioning why players must be filmed while undressing—and how such practices impact player privacy and the integrity of the sport.
Chapters
It's obviously something when you're at the level that we're speaking of that we all deal with, and it's important. You know, Steve Kerr always mentions it like it's the thing that we all get frustrated with, that we hate, but yet it should— it's the thing that we have to love the most because the media attention that is on our sport is the reason, you know, you can sign a $100+ million deal and I can sign a $100 million deal. And, you know, guys are now starting to sign $300 million deals. And the reason being is because there's so much interest in our sport and the media attention and the media rights deal and all those things.
Yeah.
We're constantly under scrutiny, 24-hour scrutiny. Sometimes things are written that may not be as fair. This week, not, few days ago, it was reported by Shams that Joel had got into a physical altercation with a reporter. To my understanding, I didn't read the article, but I read what came out of the article, where he kind of looped in his brother and his son and mentioning his legacy and what he hasn't done. And, you know, uh, it led to a physical altercation. Uh, what, what are your thoughts? Before any other questions, just what are your thoughts on the initial situation?
Yeah, I think, man, I think that, um, In this space, I think that the way that we have grown so fast and with the money that's involved in the, in just the everyday 24-hour news cycle, everything seems so important. And you can just be a guy on Twitter with a voice and Draymond Green might see my tweet, he might respond to me. And then like now people know my name. And I think that with all of that being said, I think we've lost like some of the professionalism that goes with what this is still considered a billion-dollar business. So first and foremost, the, whatever the article was, the excerpt that he wrote about his brother, his late brother, was super out of pocket. Like, super out of pocket, crazy, no context, no reason to even loop that in under any circumstances. And you can't like, take a dig at somebody in the same paragraph that you mentioned, you know, someone that lost a loved one so close to them. So I would say that first and foremost. Now, would I have did that? I don't know. So I'm not, I'm not gonna knock Joel for that because I don't know how I would have responded. I probably, you know, I think he understands the consequences that come with that. So I'm sure he knew that before he made his move. But I feel like me personally, if I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna just go all the way. You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Like, it ain't gonna be, it's not gonna be a push or a grab. It's gonna, you know what I'm saying? Somebody getting slapped up. Like once it's time to go all the way there, it's just time. And you know, we take our punishment and we keep it moving. But yeah, I'm not like condoning violence or pushing for that, but it's like certain things, you know, as a man, you still have to stand on some type of principles. And that comment was super out of pocket. And I think that maybe there was other ways it could have been put out. Probably shouldn't have been, you know, allowed in the locker room at that point or, you know, kept away or whatever the case may be. So we'll see how it shakes out. But I think we all gotta be careful how we carry this thing, you know, as it continues to grow because we can't like lose sight of, you know, some of the— Yeah. Things that helped it be what it was as well. You know, we can still mess it up. You know what I mean? Yeah, for sure. So it's like everybody gotta be on their P's and Q's. Not just players. Players always get the flack. They get the, you know, the money and the flack, which is how it goes. But it's like the media plays a part as well.
Yeah, nah, for sure. I think, like you said, man, it was foul for that dude to, like, there's no need for you to mention his son. There's no need for you to mention his brother. It's a terrible— The way you looped it in, it looked like you were just thirsty to actually loop it in because it didn't make the statement greater.
No.
It actually only made what you were saying about that thing. It didn't make anything. Actually, you did that, and because of that, no one knows any other part of your article that you wrote. And quite honestly, I don't think anyone gives a shit to even know now because they know the most important part is you kind of, you did that and took that shot for no reason and you got beat up on a little bit. And like you said, I'm not one, I don't want to condone violence. I've had a little experience with that.
Yeah, you can't condone violence.
I'm the total opposite way, but I wasn't in this situation, so I'm gonna talk about it. Yeah, for sure. And I agree with you. A, if you gonna go there, you might as well just go there because the consequence is the same. But the— I, and I always say there, yes, there is a responsibility on us as players to uphold a certain level of integrity and a level of professionalism. And to continue to give to this game. You know what I'm saying? Because you still gotta continue to give to this game for the next young guys that come through. You know, it's not, it's our responsibility to deliver it to them in great standing, not deliver it to them in shitty standing. And so we have an obligation and a responsibility to do that. I think, There's also an obligation and a responsibility though on some of these PR staffs. If you know that's happened, you know Joel feel a way about it. Maybe you don't hire that guy in the locker room or around at that time. You know, maybe you have Joel's security on high alert that, hey, he need to be between him and this guy at all times because he's feeling a way. You know what I'm saying? As opposed to sometimes the stuff with the PR, it can be so transactional because they're just trying to get these interviews done.
Yeah.
And you can miss out on the piece of, let me see how this guy is feeling because that can happen. Like these are real human beings, man. These ain't robots. These ain't robots that Elon Musk created. These are real human beings.
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying? These are people with real emotions and real feelings making real split-second decisions, spur of the moment decisions. And can you do a better job as a PR staff of protecting guys? Because, you know, it's— for instance, it was what it was, but like, could you have protected me from that guy that asked me the very first question of media day? People are worried about you. How? You know what? Like, you know, could you have protected me from that? Because I could have responded differently and that been the whole thing of media day. And could you have protected me from that? You know what I'm saying? Like, is it your job?
Yeah, to a certain extent.
Yeah, to a certain extent. Yeah, like, so, you know, I look at it that—
go ahead. I've been in some situations, not to the extent of what Joel did, but some other locker rooms that I've been a part of where they're, you know, you know how it go. Players get irritated with certain reporters, you know, through the course of the season, or they say things And Twitter get a lot of people in trouble. You know, people just like to tweet during the games, things like that. So I've asked PR staff to have removed people, you know, certain times, or maybe you just take the, you know, you move them around when you got to move them around just to like let everything die down. Because like you said, it is not just people with some more like high functioning, like super talented, super egotistical, super—
Draymond Green.
Emotional, like, people. And we put, you know, our lives on the line. Yes, we're paid very well and all of those things. But it's like, we still are given a lot on a daily basis and expected to take the high road all the time. Like, you might not pass, you might not, you might not pass that test every single time. If you gotta do it 1,000 times, you might slip up one time. And, you know, like I said, maybe, maybe, you know, could have handled it better. But I think everybody have to look and see what they could have did better. Not just Joel. I'm not gonna say him like, oh, he shouldn't have did that. Or the reporter shouldn't have. Yeah, the other people involved, you know, they got a part to play too.
100%, definitely. And I think, you know, even like, you know, the one question that it does raise, and I'm actually a little happy this happened because we've been talking about this for years. Why are reporters in the locker room?
Mm.
Why are, why, why are reporters in our sacred space where we have to get undressed, where I have to dry my wet body off and they just stand there? Why, why do I have to be subject to that as at my job? No one else that works in the NBA is subject to someone watching them get dressed and in and out of the shower. Why am I subject to that? What is it doing? What better interview are they getting of me getting dressed, possibly in the back of somebody video? What better interview are they getting than being in that locker room than me going to the podium and sitting there with a microphone?
Yeah.
Why must I get dressed and undressed in front of media members?
Yeah, nah, that's a fact. I prefer the podium by far.
