Draymond Green‘s wild rant this week has a supporter in Paul Pierce. Green’s recent behavior in the wake of the team’s crushing defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder came under much scrutiny.

The Warriors wanted to win a title going into the 2025–26 campaign. They are currently 7-6, which is not how they would have preferred to begin the season. After a difficult 126-102 loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma City earlier this week, everything essentially fell apart.

As the team’s senior pros, Green and Jimmy Butler expressed disapproval of their performance and even went so far as to criticize a few players.

Paul Pierce backs Draymond Green’s rant

Butler and Green were discussing the team’s younger players. Since then, some have said that by making these remarks public, Green went too far. Pierce, however, is a supporter of this style of leadership.

On the No Fouls Given podcast, Pierce stated:

“I’m sure Draymond’s had these conversations in practice with him, in the locker room with him, and it’s just when the frustration builds up,”

“I don’t mind what Draymond did because he’s a veteran,” “He’s a champion in this league. Maybe it’ll put a battery in their back and knowing that they’re wasting a tremendous opportunity to go to practice every day and watch Jimmy and watch Steph.”

There are several ways to treat teammates, and Pierce is the one who understands this the best. Not everyone reacts to criticism in the same way. Green gets a pass in this case for a particular reason.