Draymond Green has surprising remarks about longtime rival Rudy Gobert

Against all odds, tensions may finally be thawing between Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert.

In the most recent episode of his self-titled podcast for The Volume, the Golden State Warriors star Green offered some surprising comments about his longtime nemesis Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Green praised Gobert for Gobert’s performance in Minnesota’s first-round series against the Phoenix Suns and even said that Gobert was “actually not trash any more.”

“Rudy Gobert played great,” said Green. “Rudy actually not trash any more … He defends now … When you see him on the switches, he’s up at the level. He’s not just sitting back in the drop [coverage] no more. When he gets switched onto the guy [on the perimeter], it’s like his antennas pop on."

“I think it’s been interesting to watch,” added Green of Gobert’s play. “He’s actually impacting winning. He’s actually doing that on the defensive end.”

That is a pretty stunning departure from Green’s usual rhetoric when it comes to Gobert. The two have been feuding for many years now with Green regularly taking swipes at Gobert’s ability on the basketball court. 

Their beef later reached a boiling point earlier this season when Green put Gobert into a chokehold during a game and got suspended.

But Gobert appeared to extend an olive branch to Green back in December when he expressed empathy for what Green was going through at the time. 

That plus the fact that Gobert is making a strong impact right now for the surging Timberwolves may have led to these surprisingly complimentary comments from Green.