Etiquette and respect: Domantas Sabonis responds to Draymond Green jab

Would you shake hands with the dude who stomped on you in a basketball game?

That question is tough to answer, as the controversy regarding Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green's actions against Sacramento Kings' Domantas Sabonis took a turn towards etiquette and respect.

After Stephen Curry set a Game 7 scoring record to beat the Kings and keep the Warriors' championship-repeat dreams alive, Sabonis apparently did not want to shake Green's hand.

The outspoken forward after all did stomp on Sabonis' chest in Game 2. Green though claimed the Lithuanian-American player grabbed his leg in the rebound play. 

"Lost a lot of respect for Sabonis. You don't shake guys hands after you lose? I don't respect that," Green said during The Volume podcast.

He even looked back at the 2016 NBA Finals when the Warriors lost to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"I once left the court when we lost Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. I went to my locker room, I sat down and said, this don't feel right. I went back to the court and showed everybody love," he recalled. "You lost, deal with it. Pay your respect."

"Lost a lot of respect for Sabonis. ... You lost, deal with it."

Draymond felt a way about Sabonis not shaking hands after Game 7 👀

(via @TheVolumeSports) pic.twitter.com/yMmK0Q1pcW

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 1, 2023

Asked on Tuesday in an exit interview whether he cared about those comments and whether he cared to respond to those comments, Sabonis had to pause, raise his hand, and shake his head.

"I mean, I don't know after the game, you know..." he said to the media. He paused again and shrugged. "I don't know how to respond. I don't know how to respond."

Domantas Sabonis didn't have much of a response to Draymond Green's comments about losing respect for him after not shaking hands after Game 7. pic.twitter.com/VUkSAuHMQk

— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) May 1, 2023

Green might have been stinging from another recent handshake snub.

Back in Game 6, he was seen trying to motivate his teammate Jordan Poole in what ended up to be a homecourt loss to the Kings.

Draymond Green trying to motivate Jordan Poole in Game 6. pic.twitter.com/NoUCDGWPZj

— currgoat (@currgoat) April 29, 2023

Green tried to shake hands with Poole after, but he wasn't having any of it. After all, it's hard to forget getting sucker punched by the same player during practice.

This will be viewed as a big narrative but the Poole/Green relationship didn’t keep them from looking like Play-off Warriors today.

Sometimes you have to play with guys you don’t like.

pic.twitter.com/2uK2ckmCqk

— Jake Crain (@JakeCrain_) May 1, 2023

Some fans and pundits weren't having it too.

Fair for Draymond to call out Sabonis?

"I am not taking lessons in geography from Kyrie and lessons in sportsmanship from Draymond." — @getnickwright pic.twitter.com/D9Fbv5HE3P

— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) May 1, 2023

They unearthed how Green refused to shake hands with Tristan Thompson during Game 4 of the 2018 NBA Finals.

"He tried to shake my hand, I said 'Tristan, we ain't cut the same," Green said during their eventual championship parade.

"He tried to shake my hand, I said 'Tristan, we ain't cut the same."

–Draymond on not shaking hands with Tristan Thompson after Game 4. pic.twitter.com/VJn82lYUsz

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 13, 2018

One lesson everyone should take to heart though, is that the internet lives on forever.