The NBA Play-In Tournament finale is set to take place on Friday as the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Atlanta Hawks, and the Los Angeles Clippers take on the New Orleans Pelicans. Both games feature an eighth-seeded team hosting the ninth-seeding team in each conference. According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is clearly not a fan of the NBA Play-In Tournament or the person who came up with the idea.
LeBron James on the play-in tournament: "Whoever came up with that s— needs to be fired"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 3, 2021
“Whoever came up with that s— needs to be fired” James said. Comments from a player who was not eligible to play in the Play-In Tournament after finishing as the 11th seed in the NBA's Western Conference.
The comments by James would not go without a rebuttal, this time from a familiar face — Golden State Warriors big man Draymond Green, who took to Twitter in support of the NBA Play-In Tournament, and the atmosphere on display tonight in Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, formerly known as Quicken Loans Arena or “The Q”.




At this point if you don’t appreciate the play in tournament, you’re just stubborn and stuck in your ways. LIT!!! I’m locked in! Tough to win in the Q during the playoffs!
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 15, 2022
“At this point if you don't appreciate the play in tournament, you're just stubborn and stuck in your ways.” Green would say in a tweet. “Tough to win in the Q during the playoffs!”
Draymond Green and the Warriors know all too well what it's like to play in Cleveland when the stakes are high, having faced LeBron James and the Cavaliers four seasons in a row in the NBA Finals. Fortunately for Draymond Green and the Warriors, they would overcome the hostile environment and win three out of the four championships.