The New York Knicks elected to play the first half of Sunday’s game against the Golden State Warriors without music playing in Madison Square Garden, and one Warrior wasn’t pleased about the change to the in-game atmosphere.
Forward Draymond Green felt that the decision was “pathetic,” according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes.
“That was pathetic. It was ridiculous,” Green said, per Haynes. “It changed the flow of the game. It changed everything. You get used to playing a certain way. It completely changed it.”
The Warriors’ star forward blamed the quiet atmosphere for the sloppy first half between the two clubs.
“Did you see that first half?,” Green asked. “It was just bad, sloppy, all over the place. There was no rhythm to the game. All this stuff makes a difference in a game, believe it or not. You get in a rhythm … You turn on music, it just helps you get into a certain area, takes you to a certain place. I don’t think they were doing it to like throw us off, but it definitely threw the entire game off. They need to trash it. That’s exactly what they need to do.”
The Warriors won the game 112-105, but head coach Steve Kerr didn’t agree with the Knicks’ decision, either.
“It was weird,” Kerr said, per Haynes. “It was really weird. You sort of take it for granted because every NBA game, you got all this stuff going on, music in the background. You don’t even think about it until it’s not there. It felt like church. It was very quiet. It is Sunday after all. Maybe that’s why they chose it. It was strange. I kind of liked it better in the second half. It felt more normal with the music.”
It doesn’t sound like the shift to music-free NBA arenas will be gaining traction anytime soon.
Thumbnail photo via Derick E. Hingle/USA TODAY Sports Images
