A Timeline Of Their Feud

Skip Bayless Says Draymond Green Deserved To Be Suspended In 2016 NBA Finals

Draymond Green let his anger get the best of him after LeBron James stepped over him during the 2016 NBA Finals. He attempted to hit the four-time NBA Champion in the groin, causing them to get into a physical scuffle. Green was assessed a flagrant foul and suspended from Game 5 of that series, a costly error that gave the Cleveland Cavaliers the opening to win three straight games after being down 3-1, ultimately winning the series.

Skip Bayless supported Green being suspended from the game and cited his history of misconduct on the court. “I believe that Draymond Green should have been suspended,” Skip said to Stephen A. Smith during an episode of First Take. “He absolutely had to be suspended given his track record, especially the Steven Adams kick to the same midsection, groin. For the way Draymond retaliated against LeBron.”

Though Bayless supported the suspension, he gave Green grace for being in the position to be stepped over by calling James out for throwing him to the ground. This is just the beginning of Bayless’ incessant criticism toward Green, but at least he partially took his side in the matter?

Skip Bayless Says Draymond Green Got “Punked” By Conor McGregor

In 2017, Conor McGregor was spotted wearing a throwback Golden State Warriors jersey with the No. 23 on it–the same number that Draymond Green wears. He seemingly took that personally, and told the UFC fighter to take the jersey off because he was “rocking with Floyd [Mayweather]” in their forthcoming boxing match.

McGregor responded saying he did not know who Green was, and that he was wearing an old C.J. Watson jersey, but told him to keep hustling and referred to him as “kid.” Green fired back saying the number won’t be available once his career is over and he retires, informing McGregor of his accomplishments up to that point, and reminding him of the loss he took to Nate Diaz.

Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe discussed the back and forth on an episode of Undisputed, and Skip gave the “victory” to McGregor. “Obviously, Conor won by knockout of Draymond Green just [like] the way he’s gonna win this [Floyd Mayweather] fight by knockout […] Draymond Green basically got punked by Conor McGregor. He stepped right into it, fell right into the trap.”

Though Skip admitted he respects Draymond and called him the “Shannon Sharpe of Today’s NBA,” otherwise known as the best trash talker in the league, he paled in comparison to McGregor, who Bayless called the “best trash talker in the world.”

Skip Bayless Disagrees With Draymond Green’s Claim That He Is The Best Defender Ever

Draymond Green has accomplished a lot in his career, but his confidence would have an uninformed person thinking he was one of the greatest players in NBA history. He nearly called himself that in 2021, though he specified it to the defensive end of the floor. Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless disagreed with the claim, listing several players who would go ahead of him on the list but, in true Skip fashion, he took things a step further.

“I’ve seen a lot of Draymond Green,” Bayless said. “There was a reason he was the fifth pick in the second round […] he’s not an explosive athlete. He is highly skilled […] he does it with his mind even more than his body because he tries to be in the right place at the right time […] As far as dominating a game defensively, you’re not even in the same breath [as certain players].”

Bayless ran through Green’s resume, citing that he only won one Defensive Player Of The Year award, compared to Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace’s four. They went on to highlight players such as Tony Allen, Michael Cooper, LeBron James, and Ron Artest. In other words, Bayless believed Draymond was trippin’.

Skip Bayless Calls Out Draymond Green’s “New Media”

Draymond Green began to get more media looks in 2022 and coined the phrase “new media” to push out the older, more seasoned voices such as Skip Bayless. Skip went at Green head-on after being the subject of one of his tweets after they, unsurprisingly, disagreed over a topic involving LeBron James.

“I sit across, every day on Undisputed on live national TV, from a fellow debater who happens to be in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. His name is Shannon Sharpe! Was he the ‘new media’ before you even thought about being the ‘new media?’” Bayless asked. “I debate with him every day, often about the National Football League, and I’m pretty sure I’ve been able to hold my own against Shannon Sharpe.”

He also targeted Richard Jefferson, who called Green part of the first generation of “new media” and kept receipts of what people like Bayless and Stephen A. Smith said about them. Ultimately, Jefferson’s goal was for retired players to control the narrative.

“I have been debating a Pro Football Hall Of Famer, who I believe was better at his game than you, Draymond, are at your game, or certainly you, Richard, were at your game of basketball.”

Skip offered both of them the opportunity to come on Undisputed and debate with him, but as we’ve seen, that invitation was not accepted.

Draymond Green Calls Out Skip Bayless For Calling Russell Westbrook “Westbrick”

Russell Westbrook struggled to shoot the basketball in the years following his 2016-2017 MVP campaign and picked up the nickname “Westbrick.” Skip Bayless used the nickname in a tweet, and Russ called him out on it, saying he shouldn’t tweet things that he wouldn’t say to his face. Draymond Green then stood up for his peer.

“That man’s name is Westbrook,” Green said. “That man has children. That man has a family, that’s a family name. You talking about Russell Westbrick? Again, people run off talking and don’t think they have to stand on that. You got to stand on your words. Your words mean something […] That’s like my whole thing with the ‘new media.’ Stand on that, ‘real media!’”

He acknowledged that the “real media” would probably scoff at his words, but encouraged them to take heed, as players were tired of them and the narratives they often spun. Clearly, Skip hasn’t stopped, and pushed away his co-host, Shannon Sharpe, along the way. Green probably already gave himself credit for calling it correctly, but we’ll do it anyway: he was right.

Draymond Green Says His Favorite “F**k You” Was To Skip Bayless

Draymond Green appeared on JJ Redick’s live version of The Old Man & The Three and was asked what his favorite “f**k you” was. He joked that it was his daughter holding up middle fingers while on the championship parade float before seriously saying that it was his “f**k you” toward Skip Bayless after the Golden State Warriors won the 2022 NBA Finals.

“To absolutely destroy Skip Bayless, I never see the rebuttal but I’m sure he was as sh*tty as he was when Stephen A. Smith destroyed him last week,” Green said. “He looked like he was about to cry when he was responding to Stephen A. But the reality is, the reason you should believe Stephen A. […] Shannon [Sharpe] actually saved the guy when he went to the next network. So when Stephen A. comes out and says ‘The show was suffering, I actually saved it’ you’d be a fool not to believe that because the show was suffering and Shannon came out and saved it.”

Once again, Draymond was right. Shannon Sharpe left Undisputed last year and joined Stephen A. Smith’s First Take. While Undisputed rankings went down, First Take ratings went up. What’s the common denominator there?

Draymond Green Calls Skip Bayless The “Biggest Hater Outside The NBA”

Draymond Green stopped by Shaquille O’Neal’s The Big Podcast and held nothing back. When asked who the biggest haters in and out of the NBA were, he thought about it for a while before naming Skip Bayless. “Dude just sits up there and spews hate,” Green said toward the end of the show. “I hope I give him a soundbite for his show because it’s dying.”

He specifically took issue with Bayless building a career off of hating on LeBron James, whom he sits alongside under the Klutch agency. “You’re hating on LeBron James every single day for instance,” he asserted. “There’s no way this man gives you something to hate on every single day.”

Bayless has been one of the innovators of sports media, relying more on negativity and hot takes than actual analysis, and King James is an easy topic to generate headline upon headline. Though they have been rivals for the last almost decade, Green has a lot of respect and admiration for James. He can’t say the same for Skip, though.

Skip Bayless Fires Back, Calls Draymond Green “Dirtiest Player In NBA History”

Skip Bayless didn’t let Draymond Green go quietly. After being called the biggest hater in media for his constant LeBron critiques, he addressed the Golden State Warriors forward on his self-titled podcast.

“Here’s the astonishing truth about Draymond Green,” Skip began. “Draymond Green is, no exaggeration, the dirtiest player in NBA history by far. The dirtiest player in NBA history by far is Draymond Green. [Look up his] lowlight tapes of the cavalcade of Draymond Green’s dirtiest plays over the years…the cheap shots, the low blows, the dangerous plays. Draymond is the all-time cheap-shot artist.”

Bayless acknowledged that people love the 34-year-old forward, thus causing them to look past his several infractions, but he suggested that his lovable persona is a facade, and he may not be all the way there mentally. That was an especially piercing comment, as Green attended counseling this past season after his second suspension for striking Jusuf Nurkic in the face.

Bayless has never had an issue going lower after someone goes low with him, so this wasn’t shocking. However, he also isn’t afraid to say things to players’ faces, inviting Green to come to his show so they could hash things out.

Draymond Green Responds To Skip Bayless, Says He’s Better Than Skip “At Life”

Green saw Bayless’ claim of him being the dirtiest player in NBA history — and his invite to Undisputed — and raised him a “hell no.”

Green made things even more personal with the controversial sports personality, and decided to discuss how he wouldn’t lower himself to a show whose ratings were on the decline.

“Everybody skipping past Skip Bayless since Shannon [Sharpe] left him,” he said on The Draymond Green Show. “And he comes out and says he’ll have me eating out the palm of his hands if I come on the show. I am not coming on your show, Skip. I’m going to keep skipping past you just like everybody else skipped on you. Because that show is dead, no one wants to hear you talk anymore.”

The former Defensive Player Of The Year took things a step further by quoting a legendary rant from 2014 that was targeted at Bayless. “In the words of Richard Sherman: ‘I am better than you. I am better than you at life,’” he said. “I am just better than you. Skippin’ Skip.”