It was thankfully only a short-lived storyline during the NBA Finals but one of the uglier ones was when Danny Green and his fiance were the subject of death threats after Green missed what would have been a go-ahead shot in Game 5 of the 2020 NBA Finals. The Lakers eventually won in Game 6 a couple of days later, but members of the team did not forget what happened. In particular, there were one fan’s comments that bothered Lakers forward Jared Dudley, those from noted Lakers super fan Snoop Dogg.
Dudley discussed what he saw as unproductive shaming of Green on the part of Snoop Dogg, while also discussing other things fans say on social media, such as a petition to deny Kyle Kuzma a championship ring or comments saying Dudley was also undeserving of the team award, on Complex’s Load Management podcast. The statement was transcribed by Christian Rivas of SB Nation.
“Nah, nah, because I’m someone where I don’t question your fandom, because for one, he’s solidified, he’s cemented when it comes to fandom. I’m questioning your tactic on a trying to help a player help win your team a championship … My only problem with it was you can’t call no man a bitch … My whole thing is when you come to that, now we’re getting on something personal. And you know when you grow up, I don’t care what age you are, you hear that word, you’re automatically thinking fighting. We’re not fighting Snoop Dogg. He’s a fan…
My whole thing was that he wanted to win so bad, (he) got out of character. We all get out of character. I do that with my kids when I get mad at them when they slip up and I say something or do something I regret. I get it, but it’s like listen, you don’t think this man wants to hit a shot? This man shoots hundreds of shots every day. You don’t know what he’s going through in his personal life, you don’t his body. And you know what? No fan wants to hear all that. I agree. You don’t have to hear about it, just let the man work his way up, and look at it, next game, we win, he hits two threes, and now all is forgotten.”
Snoop is arguably the most visible and most famous Lakers fan there is today, so him using his massive platform to bash Green and call negative attention to him is obviously something the Lakers had a problem with. However, the passions of fandom can often go into a negative place and it’s not as if Snoop was hoping to have Green and his family received death threats. Luckily for both sides, the season is over and the Lakers have risen to glory once again.
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