Many in NBA enjoying Warriors’ woes, but want Curry, Green to feel more pain

The injuries sidelining Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are not only disappointing for their fans, it’s also upsetting for NBA executives and players who’ve been waiting to get revenge on their long-time tormentors.

An explosive Bleacher Report story Friday detailed how many NBA folks despised both Curry and Green for what they perceived as excessive showboating during the Warriors’ five-year dynasty. Those around the league are happy to see Golden State struggle, but they’d much prefer to watch Curry and Green suffer the pain of the team’s terrible start this season.

“It got old with the antics,” an unnamed Pacific Division player told Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report. “Now that they’ve come back to reality, you want to beat the hell out of them and see Steph with that towel over his head in the fourth (quarter). … But the team now isn’t the Warriors. (You’re not going to punish) Glenn Robinson III and D’Angelo Russell. This is about Steph and Draymond.”

Curry will be out until at least February with a broken left hand, and a team source told Bleacher Report it’s “unlikely he plays again this season.” While the Warriors denied the report, a best-case scenario still has Curry missing all but a few regular-season games.

There’s no timetable for a return for Green, who has missed the last three games with a finger ligament injury and will sit out the next three games of the Warriors’ trip, including Friday’s game in Minnesota.

Not being able to exact revenge against Curry and Green seems to be almost as infuriating as it was to continually lose games to them and the Warriors. But, specifically, the complaints about Curry centered on his dangling mouthpiece, his shoulder shimmies and his celebrations after 3-pointers. Green’s trash-talking and flexing apparently got under the skin of a lot of folks the past few years.

There apparently is even a debate among NBA execs on which Warrior was more unbearable, Curry or Green.

An Eastern Conference executive told Bleacher Report it was Curry — “Shimmies. The mouthgard. The list is endless.”

An exec from the Pacific Division said it was Green, “Because he’s not as good.”

Spurs veteran forward Rudy Gay thoroughly enjoyed beating the new-look Warriors 127-110 earlier this season while Green was on the floor.

“You think anybody in the league has any empathy for Draymond Green?” Gay said. “No, hell no. He’s a good dude and everything, but everybody has their time and everybody has their day, and it’s time for another team to step up. They took full advantage of their time at the top. And not just them — the fans, too. This is the real NBA, man. You don’t have some of the best players in the league. You still have some great players, but those wins aren’t going to come as easy no more.”

One Pacific Division player told Bucher there’s still plenty of time for Green to feel the pain from a fall from grace.

“It’s a long season,” the unnamed player said in a text to Bucher. “Even if he misses 20 games, he’ll still have to play 50. Lol. And they’re losing 40 of them. Lol.”

Portland’s Rodney Hood wouldn’t be surprised to see Green continue to miss more action this season.

“He definitely is not going to be out there by himself,” said Hood. “I don’t think he could take that. Not for a whole year.”

Hood felt the addition of Kevin Durant only made the Warriors more unbearable to deal with — and not just from a competitive standpoint.

“I know for a fact — particularly Draymond, who I have the utmost respect for — when they were on top, they let everybody know they were on top, and you felt their presence,” Hood said. “But everything comes to an end at some point. Guys were looking forward to getting at them without that 7-foot monster (Durant), so now everybody feels it’s an even playing field. Everybody is excited about that.”

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