The Wizards and Celtics will break their 2-2 tie on Wednesday in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series. The series has been physical and chippy from the start, and that only escalated further in Washington when Kelly Oubre and Kelly Olynyk got into it in Game 3, leading to an Oubre ejection and suspension.
That incident, which started after Oubre was leveled by an Olynyk screen that he took exception to, reopened the conversation about whether Olynyk is a dirty player. Olynyk has had his incidents in the past, with the most notable being when he dislocated Kevin Love’s shoulder in the 2015 playoffs by grabbing and pulling his arm. On Monday, Draymond Green called out Olynyk for being a dirty player and said he had no respect for him on his podcast.
This was notable for two main reasons. One, it’s not often that a player not even involved in a series will insert himself into the discussion about an incident, and two, Draymond is a habitual line-stepper himself, who has plenty of potentially “dirty” plays on his resume. Isaiah Thomas made note of that latter point when he was asked about Green’s comments on Tuesday.
Isaiah Thomas responding to Draymond's comments on Olynyk: "I don’t know how he can call anybody dirty. … It’s a joke that he said that." pic.twitter.com/D2klo8IuSM
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) May 9, 2017
“I don’t know how he can call anybody dirty. It is what it is. Everybody’s got a comment or whatever to say,” said Thomas. When asked if he thinks Olynyk is dirty, Thomas offered a bit of sarcasm. “Yeah, Kelly’s one of the dirtiest players I know. No, he’s not nowhere near dirty. There’s been a couple occasions, wrong time, wrong place. … He’s definitely not dirty. … It’s a joke that he said that.”
Thomas wasn’t the only one to take exception to Green’s comments on Olynyk. Avery Bradley also got asked about what Green said and, like Thomas, noted that Green calling out someone for being dirty is fairly hypocritical.
“Everyone has their own opinion, but I don’t agree to it,” Bradley said. “I think Kelly is far from a dirty guy. I’m pretty sure some guys might have their opinion on Draymond, some of the plays that he’s made in the past. But, you know, I don’t care. Everybody’s going to say whatever they want.”
There’s never a dull moment in the Association, and if there’s one thing we know about pro athletes it’s that they don’t appreciate it when someone talks bad about their teammate.
