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Mistreatment in the NBA

By Sebby Leffew

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There have been various examples of players being mistreated when being traded.  Draymond Green recently spoke his mind on this topic and expressed how he felt.  Green decided to speak out because of recent events with Andre Drummond and Cleveland.  Andre Drummond suited up for a game and was ready to play but then was told to go back to the locker room because the Cleveland Cavs are going to bench him until they can find a team to trade him to. 

 

"It's the treatment of players in this league. To watch Andre Drummond before the game sit on the sideline and go to the back and come out in street clothes because a team is going to trade him is bullshit." said Draymond Green.  He called out the NBA for being “double-sided”.  In his own words he said that if you're a player that wants something new or wants to be traded then you're the “worst person in the world”.  "But a team can say they're trading you and that man has to stay in shape, he has to stay professional and, if not, his career is on the line.”   This is the kind of mistreatment Draymond was talking about and it is why he believes the NBA has to protect its players from this type of treatment and embarrassment.

 

During the interview Green also gave other examples of people being totally mistreated and disrespected when on the trading block.  One of these players was Harrison Barnes.  Harrison Barnes not only suited up for the game but also played about 3 quarters of it just to be pulled out of the game and told that he was no longer on this team and had been traded.  “DeMarcus Cousins found out he's traded in an interview after the All-Star Game and we continue to let that happen." said Green.  There are many more examples of this type of mistreatment in the NBA.  

 

Draymond Green has a valid point. There are a few cases where big time players will purposely sit out when being traded because they don't want to risk injury but that is between them and their agent.  Players are mistreated in these types of ways.  Personally I am a big fan of the University of Louisville, as my Dad was born there and my Grandpa attended college there.  Recently the Houston Rockets signed forward Ray Spalding, who was a former Louisville Men's Basketball player.  I was pretty excited as there aren't many Louisville players in the NBA.  But in his first game he suffered an achilles injury.  The next day the Rockets waived him and just like that he is not in the NBA and probably won't be for a while.  This is the type of mistreatment that I think needs to be looked at by the NBA.

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