NEW YORK — Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green sent well wishes to New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns after the death of a family friend, but said Thursday he was just relaying what he heard when he said on his podcast that Towns didn’t play for the Knicks against Golden State this week because Jimmy Butler was in the building.
Towns was listed out for personal reasons when the Warriors beat the Knicks 114-102 on Tuesday. Green, during his podcast with former NBA player Baron Davis, said that “some would say he didn’t play because Jimmy was in the building.”
He was referencing the tensions involving Butler and Towns when they were teammates in Minnesota and Butler was seeking a trade.
Green said on the podcast that he talked to Towns’ father when he saw him at the game.
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“His pops is an incredible man, but they say KAT didn’t play because Jimmy came into town, and you know him and Jimmy had the infamous practice in Minnesota,” Green said.
Towns rejoined the Knicks in Los Angeles for their game against the Lakers on Thursday and told reporters he had been away from the team to be with his family after the death of a friend.
“This is one of those moments where I had to be there for my family and be there for the kids that lost somebody really special to them,” Towns said.
Green was not aware of that until after the Warriors’ 121-119 win over Brooklyn on Thursday.
“That’s unfortunate, I’m sorry to hear that. That sucks,” Green said. “But my comments that I made were, you know, ‘People, what I heard was this.’ That’s what I heard. So I do send my well wishes to him and his family.
“It’s inevitable, we all experience death in one way or another, and we’ll all experience it in the same way one day. So it’s unfortunate, you never wish that on anybody, but ‘The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis’ must go on.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
