LeBron, Cavs Fire Back at Draymond's Parade Tirade
The verbal jabs between Draymond Green and LeBron James crossed into yet another medium when James joined the final Road Trippin' podcast of the season by Cavaliers teammates Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye on Thursday night.
The three Cavaliers treated Green's words and gear at the Warriors' championship parade earlier Thursday as proof they were still in his head. Green acknowledged that the "Quickie Arena" T-shirt he wore—a nod to the quick work the Warriors made of the Cavs, who play in Quickens Loan Arena—was payback for James' "Ultimate Warrior" T-shirt worn at the Cavaliers' championship parade last year.
Green, though, could claim he holds the same space in theirs, since he was the subject of a healthy part of the podcast's conversation before and after James joined it. Cavs sideline reporter Allie Clifton, who is a podcast co-host, pressed James to address his denial he's ever played for a superteam and Green's counter claim that James started the trend.
"No, no," James says. "In 2003, the Lakers combined Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Shaq and Kobe. In '96, when [Michael] Jordan was retired, the Rockets joined Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, all on the same team. I definitely didn't start the superteam, if that's what he is trying to say, but it's just great that the day you're celebrating your championship, my likeness and my name is in your head. I love that."
Frye echoed James' point in adding: "This could be the greatest day of your life and you're talking about us."
While Jefferson almost made news in hinting he is contemplating retirement, the three also addressed James' newly shaven head in the podcast, which Green poked fun at in an Instagram post Thursday.
"It makes you look 10 pounds lighter," Frye jokes about James' new look.
"It feels good, doesn't it?" adds Jefferson, who has gone with the bald look practically his entire NBA career.
"I've been feeling good," James says, noting that he'd been thinking about shaving his head for some time but denying that the Warriors inspired him to do it now. "If that was the case, I would've grown an afro," he says.
The tone of the conversation turned reverent when it came to Warriors forward Kevin Durant, although Jefferson says the equivalent of Durant joining the Warriors would've been James joining the Boston Celtics after they eliminated the Cavaliers on their way to the 2008 title. Jefferson refers to Durant as the second-best talent in the league and explains he asked to guard him during the Finals because the feeling was Durant would score no matter what, so he saw no point in having James waste his energy trying. "He's incredible," Jefferson says.
"He's a talent all his own," James concurs.
Overall, the tone of the podcast is one of respect for the Warriors. Jefferson refers to them as being the best team in the league over the last three years. Then again, knowing Jefferson's deft ability to needle, that could also be a sly way of underscoring the Warriors had no business losing last year's championship yet did.
He does the same in talking about Green, acknowledging that he respects him for "doing his job" but prefacing that by saying the Cavs "didn't guard him." Frye also wishes Green's jabs at the Cavs were funnier.
"Draymond is a good dude," Jefferson says. "Can he be annoying as f--k? Yes. That's what he does. It's part of his charm. Do I wish bad things on him? No."
Hard to imagine this ends here. Green, after all, has a podcast as well.
Ric Bucher covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @RicBucher.
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