Report: Draymond Green rebuffs teammates wearing rival’s signature shoe

The Warriors’ enforcer made it quite clear that the champs will not wear any opposing stars kicks when they meet.

Draymond Green is not interested in any teammates wearing the signature shoes of their superstar opponents.

Per a story from Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report entitled “The Politics of Kicks”, the fiercely competitive Green revealed his stance on donning the shoes of a rival and confessed how dueling with LeBron James shaped that mentality.

“It’s not a team rule at all,” he says. “We don’t look that deep into it. I’m just not a fan. So if I see some guy doing it, I’ll say something, like, ‘Hey, for one game, put on a different shoe.’ When we’re playing against Houston, Loon is switching on James a lot. If you’re out there playing against him in his shoe, he’s got you dominated already.

Early on in my career I used to wear LeBrons, and I was like, ‘So? They’re comfortable.’ And then as I started to grow and I’m into my second and third year and I’m like, I’m battling with this dude. I can’t wear these shoes anymore when I’m going up against him.”

I’d definitely recommend checking out the rest of Bucher’s piece. It’s a good read and even explores how Cavaliers players abstained from wearing Steph Curry’s Under Armour shoe during their postseason clashes.

It also reminded me of another tale of the clash between fashion and competitive pride in the NBA. Check out former NBA player Kendall Gill sharing a story about how his teammate Jim Jackson got verbally roasted by Michael Jordan for daring to oppose MJ while wearing a pair of his Jordan Brand sneakers.