Draymond Green apologizes to Jalen Brunson's face for past Knicks remarks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Jalen Brunson has been proving naysayers wrong left and right during the 2026 NBA Playoffs and Draymond Green is no exception.
So much so, that when Green spoke to Brunson on “Inside the NBA” following the New York Knicks’ 107-106 Game 4 victory, he apologized to the star guard.
“I want to apologize in one game,” Green told Brunson after the Knicks took a commanding 3-1 series lead. “So I’ll say it right now to your face ‘I’m sorry’ and then I’ll say it publicly after, but I want to apologize in one game so I’m going say it right now to your face, ‘I’m sorry’ and then I’ll say it again when you go and get your ring, I apologize.”
The apology was about Green backing Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon, who went on record to say, “If your best player is small, you’re not winning” in 2023. She then doubled down following the Knicks’ Eastern Conference championship.
The four-time NBA champ went on his podcast and dropped a similar belief, doubting the possibility of Brunson being the Knicks’ best player and leading them to an NBA title.
“I still think the New York Knicks are missing that one piece that makes you a championship team,” Green said on May 31 prior to the Finals beginning. “And that’s Kevin Durant. That’s Steph Curry. That’s SGA. That’s LeBron James. That’s these 1A bonafide 1A. …Until they have that, I just don’t think it’s going to be it’s going to be very tough to win a championship. … Just like Becky Hammon said, ‘Prove me wrong.’ Prove me wrong. Double down. Absolutely double down.”
The Knicks, who were in the midst of what ended up being a 13-game playoffs win streak, had clinched their ticket to the NBA Finals, but Green said New York was “supposed” to get through the Eastern Conference.
“Getting out of the East has never been a surefire to winning championship,” Green said. “What y’all talking about? You get out of the east because you’re supposed to get out of the east. It’s the f–king east. Of course you’re supposed to get out of the east.”
Brunson has averaged just under 30 points per game in the NBA Finals and dropped 36 on Wednesday to help the Knicks overcome a 29-point deficit.
While Brunson accepted Green’s in-advance apology, the Knicks superstar likely has bigger things to focus on and more doubters to prove wrong.
