Draymond: “European players have not caught the same flak of winning a championship as US players

[iLLmatic860]

I feel like he wants to say white but is using European instead.

Even if thats what he means. Whats wrong with that?

nothing is wrong with that if it had merit

it doesn't and Dray is low-key racist and it's pretty obvious imo (this isn't something new, the low-key racism was always there)

to be clear I like Dray as a player and competitor and don't care that he's low-key racist despite being white and European myself - but he is just that

How is he low-key racist? What has he said in the past?

[AussieCeltic]

1) Jokic hasn’t had a realistically contending team in his last two playoffs cause of injuries

2) Giannis wasn’t an MVP finalist in 2021 - it was between Jokic, Embiid and Curry


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That's the point. He was flat out a better candidate than Embiid that season and even Curry, but was a total afterthought.

This sounds like some revisionist history. Giannis had a down-year by his standards that regular season. Bucks were 3rd in the East after finishing 1st in each of the two prior seasons. Voters don’t tend to award an MVP when that happens.

He also only played 61 games.

The only other time that happened was when Bill Walton won it after breaking his foot but the Blazers were 50-8 with him and flat out dominating the league.

No one is winning playing 61 games these days.

[MrGoat]

Post Dirk's title it's kind of true. Jokic isn't getting near the same criticism at this stage of his career that Dirk did. If Luka doesn't get one in the next 2-3 years I think the heat might start to rise on him

Dirk caught flak mainly because he had a couple instances where his team was dominant in the regular season and made to be the favorites in the postseason, and he came up short. This was definitely the case in 2006/2007.

Jokic's team was never the favorite to come out of the West in any season. The Nuggets looking like the #1 seed this year changes that. If the Nuggets clinch the #1 seed but don't win the West this year, then I'm sure you'll start hearing murmurs about how he can't get it done, etc....if it happens a couple years in a row, he'd get similar treatment to what Dirk got pre-2011.

You mean like last season when Jokic's assist to turnover ratio went to 5.8 assists to 4.8 turnovers in the playoffs last season? Getting swept by Phoenix the year before? Getting rudely thrown out of the playoffs by the Lakers despite Jamal Murray dropping two 50 pieces and being their leading scorer in that playoffs? Dirk made the Finals in his 8th season and the Mavs had never been the favorite to come out of the West by that point, and he made the playoffs more times. Jokic is in his 8th season, not making the Finals this season actually would put him behind Dirk at this point in his playoff career. And even before getting screwed by the refs against the Heat and the disaster against the Warriors Dirk was getting way more criticism than Jokic

[Statlanta]

They usually don't get praised like their US counterparts even when they are on the same level, like the mainstream media still would rank LeBron over Dirk even after the 2011 Finals.

If they got judged by the same lofty standards and marketed like the US players they would get the same flak which is why Jokic is starting to get heat now.

[Ill News]

Dirk got a lot of flack until he won in 2011. Funny how the narrative changes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he was seen as a soft Euro jump-shooting big that couldn't get it done when it mattered.

Exactly this. Dirk was always labeled a choker in the years leading up to the 2011 Finals, a player who wilts under the bright lights. Same thing with Nash.

I seriously don't know what Draymond is talking about here, and I hate that some people are seemingly playing the race card against Jokic all of a sudden, implying or outright saying that he's not getting the same amount of scrutiny just because he's white/European/whatever. The narrative is just so stupid.

[mariller]

I feel like he wants to say white but is using European instead.

Even if thats what he means. Whats wrong with that?

Then try reversing that.

[-Luke-]

Dirk got a lot of flack until he won in 2011. Funny how the narrative changes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he was seen as a soft Euro jump-shooting big that couldn't get it done when it mattered.

Dirk NoWinSki.

It was a thing.

[Johnny Firpo]

Even if thats what he means. Whats wrong with that?

I don't think it's accurate.

Well if we talking about players like Jokic. He does not have the expectations and pressure of winning championships like the Brons, Kds of the world

I'm just gonna come out and say it, you are biased against white players, and it's not the first, nor the fifth time it shows. It is what it is.

[lambchop]

I feel like he wants to say white but is using European instead.

Even if thats what he means. Whats wrong with that?

I don't think it's accurate.

I don't think he means white in this case. There just aren't any caucasian american star players at the moment. You'd basically have to include Tyler Herro, Huerter, Caruso, Reaves etc. in this conversation.

[peZt]

What a load of bollocks. There aren't even that many european players that could potentially get flak for not winning a championship because there have never been a lot of euro superstars being the #1 option on their team.
In the 2000s it was Dirk, Pau and Parker. Pau and TP won a championship so there is no reason for them to get any flak. And Dirk definitely was criticized by everybody.

Now with this young generation you have only Doncic, Giannis and Jokic who could be criticized for not leading their team to a championship. Well Giannis already won it but was definitely criticized the year before as a player who couldn't do it in the playoffs.
Jokic is kinda irrelevant in the US Media but also starting to get critizicm.
And Doncic is 24. When Doncic is 30 and hasn't won a championship then of course he'll be labeled as a stat padder and a guy who can't win it.

All the other european players are way too irrelevant or not good enough to receive flak. It would be like wanting the Media to ask why Brandon Ingram can't win a championship. Who cares

Even Gobert is getting flak by everybody for not being a playoff player

[jokeboy86]

Draymond's comment makes me hope for a Denver - Milwaukee finals. That would be awesome.

I want this more than ever because it's clearly two teams and two stars the mainstream media do not want to see in the Finals. In the East it's clear they want Boston or Philly over Milwaukee for tv ratings. Hell they probably even want Cleveland there now that they have Mitchell. In the West they want GS, Phx or the Lakers(which is the least likely) in the Finals. After that they would probably take Mem(Ja), Dal(Luka/Kyrie), and last LAC(cause of the market and not cause of their players). You already have some talking heads openly saying if Lebron, KD, or Steph are not in the conference finals or Finals that the ratings will be terrible and no one will care. A Den vs Mil would also force the media and probably casuals who watch or cover the NBA to finally admit something that they don't want to believe in that the two best players in the league would be Giannis and Jokic and they're not American.

What I anticipate actually happening in the future is that media will start to complain if the best players in the league happen to be all international players and that the sport is better when the top player(s) is American in the same way that people have complained about it in heavyweight boxing or tennis all these years.

[nikster]

Post Dirk's title it's kind of true. Jokic isn't getting near the same criticism at this stage of his career that Dirk did. If Luka doesn't get one in the next 2-3 years I think the heat might start to rise on him

Dirk caught flak mainly because he had a couple instances where his team was dominant in the regular season and made to be the favorites in the postseason, and he came up short. This was definitely the case in 2006/2007.

Jokic's team was never the favorite to come out of the West in any season. The Nuggets looking like the #1 seed this year changes that. If the Nuggets clinch the #1 seed but don't win the West this year, then I'm sure you'll start hearing murmurs about how he can't get it done, etc....if it happens a couple years in a row, he'd get similar treatment to what Dirk got pre-2011.

You mean like last season when Jokic's assist to turnover ratio went to 5.8 assists to 4.8 turnovers in the playoffs last season? Getting swept by Phoenix the year before? Getting rudely thrown out of the playoffs by the Lakers despite Jamal Murray dropping two 50 pieces and being their leading scorer in that playoffs? Dirk made the Finals in his 8th season and the Mavs had never been the favorite to come out of the West by that point, and he made the playoffs more times. Jokic is in his 8th season, not making the Finals this season actually would put him behind Dirk at this point in his playoff career. And even before getting screwed by the refs against the Heat and the disaster against the Warriors Dirk was getting way more criticism than Jokic

I think time spent as one of the best players in the league is more relevant than age or number of overall seasons. Dirk made the finals 5 years after his first NBA team, won a title 10 years after. Jokic got his first All NBA 4 years ago and two of those years his team was decimated by injuries. We've been hearing the criticisms of Jokics playoff failures build and if his team was healthy the last 2 years or if he fails this year, he will get a lot of flak

[Mickey8]

Watch on YouTube

Listen to this ex egg ball bozo , saying Giannis is not the European player With that logic none of the black players born in USA playing in the NBA should be considered as the americans but the African players. How do they hiring these idiots

[iLLmatic860]

I don't think it's accurate.

Well if we talking about players like Jokic. He does not have the expectations and pressure of winning championships like the Brons, Kds of the world

I'm just gonna come out and say it, you are biased against white players, and it's not the first, nor the fifth time it shows. It is what it is.

Lmaooooo Bias against what white players? Please Name them? Ive said mad times, Luka is my fav player to watch .

[dhsilv2]

That's the point. He was flat out a better candidate than Embiid that season and even Curry, but was a total afterthought.

This sounds like some revisionist history. Giannis had a down-year by his standards that regular season. Bucks were 3rd in the East after finishing 1st in each of the two prior seasons. Voters don’t tend to award an MVP when that happens.

He also only played 61 games.

The only other time that happened was when Bill Walton won it after breaking his foot but the Blazers were 50-8 with him and flat out dominating the league.

No one is winning playing 61 games these days.

2021 wasn't an 82 game season....

[BliscoSantos]

European Players aren't building "super teams"...who's are the American Players under pressure??kawhi(cause they built a super team but havent delivered)...who Else...James Got one for LA, curry Got one without Durant, so not them...maybe Harden,but so is Embild..Tatum isn't,time is on their side(they have a Long Window)
Which one of the european Players should feel pressure...giannis Got one...Jokić maybe ,but Murray Just Got back this year,Porter is injury probe(there are better name teams out there..Luka(Mavericks team sucks apart from Kyrie and Young guys) if Tatum played on Mavs nobody would expect him to win the title...even Ja isn't under pressure and the Grizz have a better team than Mavs

[Texas Chuck]

You guys get pulled offsides so easily. Draymond doesn't mean any of this, or maybe he does, but its irrelevant. He knows his playing career is winding down and its clear he wants to be a major media star for his 2nd act. Saying stuff like this is the path in today's world.

Nobody needs to get upset by anything Skip or SAS or Perk or Draymond say. It's a worked promo nothing more.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

I feel like he wants to say white but is using European instead.

yeah. Giannis absolutely got **** on for not winning before the age of 26. Is he not European?

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

I feel like he wants to say white but is using European instead.

I don't see that at all. Unless you think only white players are European? Giannis didn't get much flak from the media before winning the title so it holds true, despite the Bucks perennially being elite in the regular season for years before their title.

Giannis got a decent amount in 2019 and then a **** ton in 2020 despite only being 25 and having a weird bubble and distractions* from the race riots. Its a huge reason why people didn't even consider him for MVP in 2021** because he was consistently 'failing' in the playoffs.

*I don't mean to say the distractions were bad thing. It was a huge issue and rightfully so. I'm just pointing out having teammates publicly saying they shouldn't be here and voting not to play games wasn't the best environment to win games.

**Jokic obviously deserved it anyways, just pointing out what media said at the time

[Karate Diop]

Draymond talks reckless just to get a reaction. Mans wants a media career so badly since he knows his playing days are almost over...