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Cavs Player Reportedly Sucker-Punched Draymond Green at LeBron's Party

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Can’t we all just get along?

Sure, Golden State’s Draymond Green and Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson are well-acquainted. After all, they’ve spent the last four summers playing against each other in the NBA Finals.

Of course, Green and the Warriors have won three of those championships, but Thompson did earn a ring (and a five-year/$82 million contract) from the battles.

At last month’s ESPY Awards — you know, that feel-good, high-fiving love fest where the best athletes in the world celebrate their accomplishments — ESPN held an exclusive party after the ceremonies. Green and Thompson attended as guests of LeBron James.

Apparently Thompson wasn’t in a celebrating — or forgiving mood.

You may remember that when the Cavs center received a technical foul in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Green mocked him by clapping.

Between games, the controversial Warrior made it clear that he was not afraid of the much bigger Thompson, telling the assembled media, “I can meet him in the streets any day.”

Then, as Golden State was celebrating its four-game sweep of the Cavs, Green refused to shake the hand of Thompson, telling the fallen Cav, “We ain’t cut from the same cloth.”

Fox Sports reporter Jason McIntyre said that when Green tried to apologize following the ESPYs, Thompson was having none of it. McIntyre claims Thompson took a swing at Green.

https://twitter.com/jasonrmcintyre/status/1024343457865719808

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Marcus Thompson, a reporter for The Athletic, says McIntyre’s account may have been exaggerated. “It was a sucker punch,” one source told The Athletic, “But, to be honest, it wasn’t really a punch. It was more like a shove.”

“Man, that wasn’t no fight,” another witness told Marcus Thompson. “It was much ado about nothing.” 

It should be noted that according to all accounts, Tristan Thompson — not Green — was the aggressor.

Given some of Green’s antics, that may be a bit of a surprise.

Related:
LeBron James Gets Roasted for His 'Strange' Response to Trump's Victory

But between the Kevin Durant-CJ McCollum feud, and now whatever this is is being called, it’s been a summer of player-on-player hate in the NBA, something you can be sure Commissioner Adam Silver is aware of, and not thrilled by.

The good news for Thompson, of course, is that barring a miracle, the LeBron-less Cavs won’t have to worry about facing Green and the two-time defending champion Warriors in The Finals for a fifth straight year.

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Mike is an 11-time Michigan Emmy Award winner who has spent nearly 30 years working in sports media.
Mike has spent nearly 30 years in all aspects of sports media, including on-air, 10 at ESPN and another 10 at Fox Sports Detroit. He now works as a TV agent, and lives with his family in West Bloomfield, MI.
Birthplace
Sudbury, Massachusetts
Honors/Awards
11-time Michigan Emmy winner
Education
Emerson College
Books Written
The Longest Year: One Family's Journey Of Life, Death, And Love/If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Tigers/If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Lions
Topics of Expertise
Sports




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