The Atlanta Hawks faced off against the Golden State Warriors on March 22. And during that game, Caris LeVert got into a verbal back-and-forth with Jonathan Kuminga. Ever the participant in on-court extracurriculars, Warriors star Draymond Green chimed in.
LeVert reminded Kuminga about the trade rumors involving the 22-year-old ahead of this year’s deadline. Kuminga asserted that LeVert could not guard him.
Green dropped a veritable haymaker on LeVert, saying he had been “traded seven times.”
“The reason I jumped in – I was just checking into the game too – and I butted in because all I heard was like – he [LeVert] looking at JK at the free throw line. And he was like, ‘You was this close to being traded.’ That’s what he said. ‘You was this close to being traded,’” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis” on March 28.
“So that’s all I heard. I didn’t hear anything else that was said. All I heard was, ‘You was this close to being traded.’ Which is why my response was, ‘Bro, you’ve been traded seven times. How you gonna talk to him about almost being traded, and you have been traded seven times?”
Hawks star Trae Young jumped in, encouraging Green to refrain from joining the back-and-forth between their teammates.
Green said he was already too far into it by then, though, and felt Kuminga crossed the line.
“Trae go, ‘Hey, chill Dre. They just talking junk, man. Chill.’ And then Caris go, ‘He start talking about me being traded first.’ But I wasn’t hearing none of that at that point. I had already went off the top rope, and it was what it was. I just took off on down the court. I took off on down the court. But apparently, JK must have said to him something about, ‘You keep getting traded,’” Green recalled.
“But I ain’t hear all that. All I heard was, ‘You was this close to being –.’ and the last thing you going to do to one of my guys is talk about them being ‘this close to being –.’ I can’t go with that. I can’t go with that.”
LeVert -- who has been traded four times, including as a rookie in 2016 -- was closer to reality than Green wanted to accept.
ESPN's Shams Charania reporting the Warriors did indeed attempt to trade him for Kevin Durant.
"The Timberwolves were a team that pursued [Kevin] Durant this week."@ShamsCharania on the other teams that made offers for KD before the trade deadline. pic.twitter.com/C6mUtaxDkP
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 7, 2025
Caris LeVert, Hawks get last laugh vs Draymond Green, Warriors
Young, LeVert, and the Hawks got the win, knocking off the Warriors 124-115. Young finished with 25 points, 10 assist, and 5 rebounds. LeVert had 14 points, 6 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Kuminga posted a 16-point, 2-assist, 2-board line while Green had 5/6/6 and three steals.
No penalties were assessed for the interaction, unlike some others, and Green explained that he knows LeVert through a mutual friend. Green called the Hawks veteran swingman a “good dude,” but said he was not aware he was picked up on the microphones.
He also admitted the altercation caused a stir in his group chat. Green is a proud Michigan State alum while LeVert hails from Michigan.
There was no love lost amongst the friends.
“I had no idea the microphones caught my voice. I thought I was just suddenly at the free throw line butting in. And then I got to my phone, and they like, ‘Day, why you kill him like that?’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ My response to my boys was like, ‘Dang, y’all caught that? They was like, ‘Yeah, the TV caught it for sure. I was like, Dang, my bad,’” Green said.
“Some of my boys in the group chat from Michigan State, they like, ‘F*** that. He from the other side anyway.’ But a couple of my boys in the group chat also went to Michigan, so then it sparks this Michigan-Michigan State in our group chat.”
Green said that type of banter was common and nothing personal, adding that he had “a lot of love” for LeVert, a “good dude.”
Ironically, Green and Young have also been named in trade rumors in recent years.