In a conversational podcast segment, former NBA players Draymond Green and Baron Davis dissect a heated on‑court exchange between Draymond and Karl‑Anthony Towns during a Knicks‑Warriors game. Green praises Towns for playing with heightened physicality and a "chip on his shoulder," arguing that this mindset elevates both Towns' performance and the respect he commands league‑wide. He recounts specific moments—pump‑fake exchanges, a dunk, and a trash‑talk line where Towns called Green "soft" and a "hoe"—to illustrate the intensity of the encounter. Green asserts that if Towns consistently played that way, the Knicks would win more games and he would become a more respected player. The hosts also share a nostalgic anecdote about fronting Shaquille O'Neal, involving coach Paul Silas and big man Eldon Campbell, to highlight how defensive assignments and coaching decisions affect player mentality. Throughout, the dialogue blends analysis of physical play, mental toughness, respect, and strategic implications for the Knicks, while peppering the conversation with humor and personal stories.
Chapters
Karl-Anthony Towns, if he plays physical like he played against you, right, there's a better ceiling for the Knicks. I wanted to get your thoughts on one, his game that game, because, you know, he was, he was going at you too. I like that. I like that he was going at you.
Yeah, absolutely loved that he came out with that mentality because As we spoke about the whole situation of what I said on the podcast, which, you know, him with, with him ducking Jimmy.
We apologize anytime, anytime somebody lose somebody. But you know what was said, what was said, we apologize, we move forward. Obviously he heard about it. He had a chip on his shoulder. And I like that.
And I love that. There are things that go on throughout the course of an NBA season that should give you a chip on your shoulder. What I hate is when guys act like it didn't happen. And I've actually played against Karl before where some things were said or heard, this, that, and the other, and he did not come out and act like he knew what was going on. And I hate that.
Mm-hmm.
I love the way he came out. First play, they give him the ball, he get me on a pump fake. Guess why he get me on that pump fake? Because I'm thinking the same thing he thinking. It's me and you right now. What's up? Right, he shoot the pump fake. I want that so bad. Ah, I go for the pump fake. He drive by. I'm like, ah.
Hey, Draymond Green.
But guess what? Guess what? I'm like, okay, here we go. Right? Like, it's time.
Y'all was going at it, dude.
Let's go at it, right? And so I love that. And I applaud him on his mentality that he came out with. I am not the guy that's going to say when someone do something wrong and not say when they do something right. That mentality that Karl-Anthony Towns came out with is the exact mentality that he should have came out with.
Mm-hmm.
And I love it. So here it is, he get that dunk. Now vice versa, I get the first block on Giannis, Karl get the dunk. You feeling a little different. So now he feeling good about himself, right? He get a couple open threes, you know, He in the flow of the offense. He making shots. It's good, right? So I need to put this fire out. So now at that point, as a defender, I have to take on, I have to do whatever I need to do to put this fire out. So now you playing the game, you playing the game. Oh man, he got 2 fouls. Oh, if I get him his 3rd foul, he gotta go to the bench. So I'm running up to set a screen. He made contact. All right, let me embrace this contact.
All right, now you did, yeah, yeah.
Let me embrace this contact.
Hey man, hey, the chatter, and what I loved about it was the chatter. Right? Like, I don't know what y'all was saying to each other or what was being said on the court. I don't even care.
I'll tell you exactly what he said.
I like to make up my own words. I don't even want you to tell me. I just made up my own. But I can feel it.
No, I'mma tell you what he said, BD, because I think this was a big moment for Towns, in my opinion. And I'mma go more into why I think it was a big moment, but I'mma tell you what he said. He said, I called him soft. I said, he is soft, he's soft.
Yeah, yeah.
He's soft.
Yeah.
He said, man, you a hoe. [LAUGHTER] I said, right? He said, you a hoe. You a hoe? I said, ho, ho, ho, hoe. [LAUGHTER] I said, get him outta here. Go sit him down. Go sit him on the bench. Hey, Tibbs, Tibbs, get him outta here. He said, you a hoe.
[LAUGHTER] He gave you the Christmas ho ho ho ho ho ho.
Hey, so listen, right? So I'm loving that, but you going to sit on the bench, it's cool. Hey, but check this out. And you asked a specific question. You said, do I think he's better and they're better off if he plays with that type of physicality? And the answer is yes. And if Karl-Anthony Towns was my teammate, That's what I'm looking to get outta him every single night.
Every day.
I'm finding something every single day like, yo, I need you on this type of time and here's why. And I need to get that from him because there's guys like Karl-Anthony Towns that are as talented, like that's that talented, that sometimes you need to put the battery pack. They need somebody to put the battery pack in their back. And Karl-Anthony Towns, in my opinion, I think is one of those guys because he got the size, he has, he's strong as hell, right? So, and he obviously has the skill.
And the skill. Yeah.
So if you play with that level of physicality, if I can get you play with that level of physicality, more often than not, we're gonna win way more games than we lose. And I'm going to get you to be a better player than you even knew or thought that you were. And so he 100% would be better off and they 100% would be better off if he always played that physical. And by the way, if he played that physical all the time, he'd be much more respected around the NBA than he is. He's respected as a talent. Talented player. But you saw Matt Barnes say the other day, Matt said, Cat's problem is he a cat, he not a dog. And that's what, that's, that's what Matt said. If Cat come out and play with the type of dog that he played with against me the other night, man, good luck guarding Karl-Anthony Towns. Good luck. Because the way he shoot the ball like a guard and he got that type of dog, you're not stopping him. And so I said earlier this year, I tweeted, the New York Knicks won't win with Carl Anthony Towns fronting Joker like that. Reason why, you won't always get in that front, and mentally Joker's just like, oh man, this dude fronting me, like he's scared of me.
He don't want the fight.
He's scared of me. And so that's what the mindset becomes, like, yo, this dude's scared of me. And I said that. Now, if you're in a playoff series, and that's the game plan y'all go with, that's a totally different story. But you against this dude mano a mano in the regular season, bro, you gotta stop him, and— or at least go for broke trying to stop him. And that's what I said, and everybody's like, oh, Draymond picking on KAT. One thing y'all should understand, Draymond don't just pick on people. I tell you the truth about basketball and about mentality, about championship-winning mentality. And if you go back and look at them tweets, I said If they ever want to compete at the highest level, if he wants to be respected at the highest level, you got to take on that challenge.
You got to take that thing.
Him taking on that challenge is the same mindset needed and which he had against me the other day. And so I stand by everything I said when I said— when I, when I put those tweets out, and I stand by what I'm saying now. Yes, he was absolutely incredibly physical. And if he's that physical all the time against everybody, that's a different basketball player. And guess what? When KAT showed up and played like that, I don't know if he realized it or not, people gained way more respect for him.
But even the level of the play of everybody else went up. It went up. Without having Jaylen Brunson. Hey, have you ever had a teammate get kicked out the game by the coach.
Kicked out of the game.
Have you ever had one of your teammates sent to the locker during the game? Like, yo, get out of here.
I never— nah.
I have a funny story about fronting the post, bro. We playing the Lakers, we in Charlotte. Paul Silas tells Eldon Campbell, yo, we playing Shaq, you know, they got the triangle. Elden, I want you to get around in front. So Elden was like, huh? He was like, what? He was like, yeah, we gonna front, and then on the backside when they throw it, we gonna close in double team. Elden was like, uh, nah, man, you know, I played against Shaq, like, I'm not fronting that dude. Paul Silas said, you gonna front his ass. Or you ain't gonna play. He said, man, I ain't got no time. Like, I ain't got no time for this. The game starts, right? Eldon Campbell goes, he fronts Shaq, they throw the ball over his head, Shaq dunk, boom. Eldon Campbell fronts Shaq again, right? Shaq get and one, right? Eldon go, man, fuck that. I ain't fronting this dude no more. I ain't fronting no more.
Yeah.
Right, I ain't front no more. All right, we got you, big homie. Throw the ball into Shaq. Elden like playing behind him. Think Shaq may have missed one. Throw the ball back to Shaq, he get an and one. Paul Silas called a timeout. Timeout, timeout.
Timeout!
Hey bro, you know when the coach meet you and start walking you to the bench? So I'm sitting on the bench, they just going back and forth. I told you to front, man, I ain't fronting. We get to the bench, he said, man, this is the game plan up front. He said, man, that shit ain't gonna work.
He said, if you don't think this shit gonna work, you can leave.
Elden said, okay. And he got him off the bench, bro. And walked to the locker room. Paul Silas told him, look, fuck it, get outta here. You can go home. I was like, wait, hold on, dude, like, we need this fool in shape. But I get there, we get there at halftime, right? He put his suit on, he like in the locker, the team over there, please, come on, big homie, we need you, come on, come on, man, put your jersey back on, we need you, come on, man. He was in full suit, had his bag, he was on his way out.
Did he start back playing? He came back to the game.
You know Paul Silas kicked Eric Snow out the game too when he was on the team with LeBron. Hey, hey dude, Paul Silas was funny. He'd be like, you don't wanna play? You can get the fuck up outta here. No, now. Bye. Bye.
Man, that's hilarious. That's hilarious.
I'm not fronting.
Don't front. If you're a big dude, don't be out there fronting, man. Yeah, it's tough.
Take the fade.
It's tough.
Shout out to KAT though.
KAT's 7 feet. KAT, if I'm being honest, I could get away with fronting better.
I'm 6'6". Yeah.
Than you.
Yeah, you got— I'm sorry.
Maybe in the playoffs.
KAT is one step away though. He one step away. If he play like he played against you and then I would say—
If he play like that against everybody?
If he play like that.
He destroyed most guys, by the way.
Yeah. Anyway, anyway.
But if he play like that, he get served by the ball.
That mentality, right? Because it was a different mentality, you know, 'cause he got the cockiness, the chip on his shoulder, the entertainment. But for that game, for some reason, he was mad and locked in. So them 3 fouls, I wasn't mad at him for that because he wasn't gonna get punked that night. He was going, he wanted to play, be on the court every moment 'cause he was embracing that. He gotta start like that.
Mm-hmm.
He gotta look at every dude like Draymond, you know what I mean? He gotta look at every dude like the night you played against the Warriors and say, if I bring that every night, it's gonna shoot New York to a whole nother stratosphere.
That's a fact. It's a different, he play like that, it's a different player. No question asked.
