In the second quarter of Oklahoma City's 133-105 stomping of Golden State, Draymond Green flailed his right leg right into Steven Adams's nether region, forcing the Thunder big man to double over, the second time in two games one of Green's legs has connected with Adams's testicles. There's been some trash talk brewing between the two over the course of the series, and both are the kind of players who get under opposing teams' skin as a result of their style of play. All of that background factors into the discussion of whether or not Draymond Green intentionally kicked Steven Adams in the nuts.Obviously fans, teammates, and coaches have their own biases and opinions. That's how the OKC crowd could chant "Kick him out" during the review of the play, how Billy Donovan could go all "I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'" after the game, and how Warriors coach Steve Kerr could be incredulous at the mere suggestion it might have been intentional, all after watching the same play.Draymond Green flatly denied it was intentional, saying "I don't know how anyone could possibly say I did that on purpose." This came after comments before the game where he was asked to respond to Steven Adams saying that he had "peaked in his annoyingness." Green told reporters that his goal is "definitely not to get in Steven Adams's head," but rather in the head of big scorers like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
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The actual nutshot from Game 3 is pretty tough to parse. In part because players have learned that they really need to make sure the refs know they've been fouled, you see something like this on every play. There's contact and then limbs go flying; arms, legs, and heads just spasm in all directions. You can see the argument Green and Kerr are making here because it's pretty much the same deal. Green feels contact and just starts flailing.However.You can also see it as a response to Adams getting in Green's head with his comments. He kicked directly in the nuts in a way that looks like he was trying to kick him directly in the nuts, much more so than the last time he kneed Adams in the nuts in Game 2. All of those things could be true about the flailing continuation of Green's shot, and he still could have been trying to kick him in the nuts. Or at least, not minded all that much if his leg happened to continue and make contact with his scrotum. And what does Adams think of it all?Keep your eyes on Draymond Green and Steven Adams tonight. #NBAPlayoffshttps://t.co/3hOmQKA1W0
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) May 22, 2016
That's a pretty fair argument. If I had to guess, I think Green was flailing, was annoyed with Adams and didn't particularly care where any of his body parts landed, and just let his leg go wherever it wanted. Maybe even for a split second he knew he'd probably kick him in the nuts, and just didn't stop himself. I don't think most players actively want to hurt a guy that way, but when the testosterone gets flowing they sort of black out for tiny moments of time.Steven Adams on Draymond Green kick: "It happened before, mate. He's pretty accurate."
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 23, 2016
If I had to guess, that's the same thing that happened with Dhantay Jones when he connected with Bismack Biyombo's junk in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals while battling for rebounding position. It's the same type of plausibly deniable play that looks just bad enough to make you think it was on purpose. Unfortunately for Draymond Green and the Warriors, Jones was suspended one game for his actions.