Knicks’ Josh Hart Beefs With Draymond Green ‘Counting Other People’s Pockets’ As Warriors Star Questions Jalen Brunson’s $113M Pay Cut
· Yahoo Sports
Draymond Green took a shot at Josh Hart during the latest segment of “Club 520 Podcast.” The Golden State Warriors forward said that Jalen Brunson should not have taken a $113 million pay cut in 2024 because the New York Knicks could “afford it.”
Green added that “Hart or somebody else take less,” so Brunson didn’t have to give the Knicks a discount, a statement that earned a response from Hart.
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Knicks’ Josh Hart Defends Himself and Jalen Brunson After Draymond Green Questions $113M Pay Cut
In the podcast, which includes former NBA player and co-host Jeff Teague, Green said he received less from the Warriors because Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson played under max contracts.
The 2017 Defensive Player of the Year claimed that he was “cool” with his salary because neither Curry nor Thompson took “any penny less.”
Green continued that instead of Brunson accepting less, Hart or someone else should have made the sacrifice.
On Tuesday, Hart responded to Green’s comments.
“We got to normalize grown men not counting other people’s pockets,” Hart tweeted.
In the summer of 2024, Brunson signed a $156.5 million contract. Had he waited for free agency, he would have been eligible to get a five-year, $269 million deal.
By leaving roughly $113 million on the table, the Knicks were able to use part of the money on Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, two crucial members of the Knicks’ 2026 championship-winning team.
In a Sports Illustrated interview in June, Brunson insisted that he only “signed for the most amount of money that was in front of me at that time.” The All-Star guard went on to say that he didn’t think his “day-to-day” life would change much by taking over $100 million less.
Meanwhile, Hart is already on a team-friendly deal with the Knicks. The versatile guard signed a four-year, $80.9 million deal in 2023. However, Green thought that Hart could have sacrificed more for the Knicks and Brunson.
What Green said about Hart goes against what he claimed in 2022 after he infamously punched former Warriors teammate Jordan Poole. In his first talk to the media since the incident, Green made one thing clear:
“I can assure you that I don’t count other people’s pockets. That’s not something I would ever start doing. The way I was raised, that is simply hating on another man’s situation, and that’s something that you just don’t do.”
Poole agreed to a four-year, $128 million contract in 2022, while Green received $28 million less for the same term.
The four-time All-Star must have forgotten how he claimed he was raised following his comments about Hart. He crossed a line that he said he would never cross.