Nicholson calls out Dray’s ‘insecurity’ for draft pick claim originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Andrew Nicholson is setting the record straight.
Appearing on the July 21 episode of the “Hip Hop Hoops” podcast, Nicholson shared his thoughts on Draymond Green calling him the “most ridiculous” player taken before the Warriors star in the 2012 NBA Draft.
“Honestly, it’s kind of unfortunate and I see it as an insecurity on his end … I didn’t know he was thinking about me for the last 11 years — I wasn’t thinking about you, I’m going to be honest with you,” Nicholson said.
Nicholson went on to say that despite being competitors on the floor, he was glad to see his fellow draftees excelling, wherever they might be, making Green’s comments regrettable in his eyes.
“But the most unfortunate part about it is that for me, as an individual and as a person, I see the guys in my draft class like Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard, those guys who are actually succeeding, Draymond was one of them too, I was happy to see him succeed but I don’t know,” Nicholson revealed.
The 33-year-old added that the joy he gets from seeing his peers succeed is because of his personality.
“And I’m happy to see that he’s gotten two max contracts, I’m happy to see Damian Lillard is thriving, I’m happy to see AD won a ring, he’s playing with the Lakers,” Nicholson said. “But when someone has that kind of insecurity and he doesn’t want to see someone else do well or is questioning, 11 years later, why this guy was before me, it’s kind of disappointing.”
Nicholson’s comments were in response to Green’s appearance on the July 3 episode of “Podcast P,” where host Paul George asked Green to name the “most ridiculous” player selected before him.
“This is not to throw salt at anybody,” Green told George. “But Andrew Nicholson was drafted over me at like [No.] 19. … At the time y’all are comparing us as big men who can play back to the basket, but I’m looking at this dude and number one, he doesn’t even look like a basketball player. I always tell people, when it comes to winning, half the battle is looking like a basketball player. When you’re on a team and you look at the other side of the floor and if you see guys that don’t look like basketball players, you automatically lose respect. And when you lose respect for those guys, you do things to them in the game that you otherwise wouldn’t have done if you respected that guy.
“So that’s half the battle. … He’s weird body shaped, he walks like this and talks like this, there’s no way that this guy is going to be better than me at basketball. I just don’t see it. So that was one that really, really, really pissed me off. There are several others that went before me, but that was one where I’m like we’re getting compared, I worked out against him a couple of times and I didn’t get drafted [before him].”
Nicholson became an NBA journeyman after four rollercoaster years with the Orlando Magic. In his five-year career playing for the Magic, Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets, Nicholson averaged 6.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.3 blocks in 14.3 minutes a game.
Meanwhile, Green’s fiery personality helped the 35th pick of the 2012 draft become an eight-time All-Defensive Team selection, a four-time All-Star, four-time NBA champion and make two All-NBA teams.
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Despite more than a decade passing since Nicholson was picked over Green, it’s clear the latter is still using that as fuel to carve out his legacy as a basketball player.
Only time will tell if Green’s words in the offseason will lead to another Warriors championship.
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