How ‘Trash Talking’ Has Changed In Today’s NBA

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The NBA used to be a league renowned for ‘trash talking’: verbal exchanges of insults between players (and other members teams, such as coaches and support staff) designed to put opponents off their game.

Today’s NBA sees relatively few overt instances of true trash talking between players, but the art of ‘psyching out’ someone has not completely disappeared; instead, it is now more subtle and targeted.

“You don’t see too much Kevin Garnett- and Gary Payton-type trash talk,” Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard said. “It’s not really a verbal assault like it used to be.”

Lillard’s own best example was his famous ‘wave’ when he inspired the Blazers to an emphatic 4-1 series win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the Playoffs in 2019. His 50th point in Game 5 came on a 37-footer over Paul George at the buzzer, one of the most iconic shots of this generation.

Then as he walked off the court, he looked back and waved goodbye. “There are trash-talkers in the league,” Lillard said, “but in this era, it’s more gestures.”

However, there are still players such as Draymond Green who knows just when to fire off a vicious insult to metaphorically cut the legs from under an opponent.

Green’s most famous quip came at Paul Pierce’s expense during the Hall of Famer’s retirement tour of a final season, when Green yelled from the bench, “You ain’t Kobe [Bryant]! They don’t love you like that!”

Green also recently told a listener to his podcast, ‘The Draymond Green Show’, that he is the best ‘gift of the gab’ player in the NBA: “You get the opportunity to listen to the best trash talker weekly,” Green said. “I don’t think there’s any better trash talker in the league than me, and I stand by that. I guarantee that.”

Other than himself, Green mentioned former Warriors teammate Kevin Durant, praising the Brooklyn Nets star for having “one-liners for days.”

Some of Durant’s quips come during game action: He’s been known to blurt, “He drunk at the bar!” after making a defender’s legs wobble with a crossover. Another go-to jab occurs during breaks in the action when Durant will ask, “Who is this?” and make a show of looking at the back of his defender’s jersey.

Green compared Durant’s style to that of Hall of Famer Larry Bird: trash-talkers who have the advantage of being legendary players.

“Kevin Durant talking, what are you going to say? Like, ‘Bro, you can’t dribble… Ah, you can’t shoot.’ Like, what are you going to say?” Green said. “Like, if you ain’t witty enough to have [clever] comebacks, then you’re screwed.”

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Catch the following NBA Regular Season games live on ESPN this week…

All times CAT

Saturday 5 February

04:00: Utah Jazz v Brooklyn Nets – LIVE on ESPN 2

Sunday 6 February

22:30: Denver Nuggets v Brooklyn Nets – LIVE on ESPN