Escalating Victor Wembanyama villain narrative is reaching dangerous territory

This Victor Wembanyama discourse is going too far, and the two voices driving the intensity up are the worst messengers for this sort of debate. Draymond Green, of all people, hops on his podcast and claims the Spurs' superstar should have been suspended because fans have "called for his career for less," and since Vic wasn't suspended, the Timberwolves should seek retaliation.

The hypocritical Warriors forward, suffering from a criminal level of lack of self-awareness, encouraged the Minnesota players to throw an elbow at Wemby in Game 5 tonight, even if it results in an ejection. Kendrick Perkins followed that up by co-signing every word on ESPN's GetUp morning sports show (birds of a feather, I suppose).

The fact of the matter is that neither of these individuals is qualified to speak on this subject. They are either unwilling to tell the truth about their own careers or unable to view the circumstances objectively, because as soon as you do, their arguments fall apart.

Draymond Green and Kendrick Perkins earned their reputations

Perkins drew on his experience getting suspended for a game after what he called a "slight headbutt," but this isn't the MMA, and headbutting isn't allowed. What he didn't tell you is that he committed his act against Tyreke Evans in the first quarter and was not ejected. Had he been thrown out of the game, he wouldn't have been suspended for the next one. This is an apples-to-oranges comparison.

KP also failed to mention that in his 14-year career, he racked up 4 ejections, 11 flagrant fouls, 18 disqualifications, and 102 technical fouls. This was during an era when physicality was slightly more allowed than it is now, and he still put up numbers in the categories you don't want while averaging fewer than 20 minutes a night in seven of the 14 seasons he played.

Draymond Green is and has been even worse. The man has 21 flagrants, 22 disqualifications, 22 ejections, and 176 technical fouls. Not to mention, his very first ejection came on December 25, 2013, after elbowing Blake Griffin in the head, and guess what? He was not suspended for the following game. He was fined $15,000, but that was due to a failure to leave the court in a timely manner.

Green's act came in David Stern's final year as commissioner. If you know anything about Stern, you know that he was famous for bringing down the hammer when he believed players or franchises stepped over the line. However, Dray got a slap on the wrist, and nobody made a big deal of it.

Wrong message/messengers for Wembanyama's situation

The outrage these guys are expressing now is unbelievably hypocritical and lacks a significant amount of context. Knowing their reputations, how do you think they would have reacted had they been subjected to being pushed in the back while running freely down the court or smacked in the head immediately after being grabbed around the thigh, arm, and jersey while they were jumping for a rebound?

After they got their revenge, they would have justified their actions demonstrably. Someone needs to sit these guys down with a PowerPoint presentation, showing them everything wrong with their arguments. Then take their microphones away like the petulant children they're behaving like until they prove they deserve to have them back.

Let's be clear: if Minnesota wants to dial up the physicality even more than they already have with their borderline dirty play, the Spurs will meet them in the middle. They're not intimidated by the damn Timberwolves. But let's not act as if Wemby's elbow happened in a vacuum, and we certainly don't need Perkins and Green telling us how anyone should react. Not them. They can't say that.

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