Before May 2022, Draymond Green and Dillon Brooks were regular Western Conference opponents with no widely reported personal feud. The public rift began on May 3, 2022, less than three minutes into Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals, when Brooks chased Gary Payton II and struck him in midair; Payton suffered a fractured left elbow, Brooks was ejected for a Flagrant-2, and the NBA suspended Brooks one game [1][2]. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, 'He broke the code. Dillon Brooks broke the code' in immediate reaction to the play [1]. Gary Payton II later wrote that Brooks apologized to him in person after the series and that Payton accepted the apology, which documents a private attempt at resolution separate from public criticism [6]. The May 3, 2022 incident is the earliest verifiable flashpoint in the documented Green–Brooks adversarial pattern and set the baseline for future meetings between the teams [1][2][6]. In subsequent regular-season meetings the episodes of heightened physicality and visible taunting suggested the May 3 episode had lingering effects on how the teams interacted on court [5]. The play produced immediate media scrutiny and visible reactions from Warriors players—Green flipped his middle fingers while leaving the court, an action for which the league later fined him $25,000—further fueling coverage and the sense of a team-versus-team narrative [1].
Public reporting through February 2026 shows the Green–Brooks adversarial pattern remains active. The most recent documented exchange occurred April 6, 2025, when the Warriors faced the Rockets: Green fouled Brooks and the two engaged face-to-face during the game, demonstrating continued on-court friction after Brooks left Memphis for Houston (green-brooks-2025-exchange) [7]. There is no public record of a private reconciliation between Green and Brooks; Gary Payton II's reported in-person apology from Brooks after the 2022 series addressed Payton but did not extend to Green, according to available reporting [6]. Both players have used media platforms to address one another—Brooks in interviews and Green on his podcast—so the dispute currently registers as ongoing public adversarial behavior rather than resolved or reconciled [3][4][7].
From Draymond Green's side the dispute centers on a perceived breach of an unwritten player code and defending teammates after Brooks' May 3, 2022 chase-down hit on Gary Payton II; Green's responses (on-court and on his podcast) reflect a defender/enforcer role and a willingness to call out what he sees as dangerous or disrespectful play [1][4].
From Dillon Brooks' viewpoint the interactions are part of his long-standing on-court provocateur identity and an expression of competitiveness; Brooks has publicly dismissed Green's media rebuttals and framed his comments as standard rivalry heat rather than a demand for reconciliation [3][4].
Teams view the incidents through player-safety and competitive-protection lenses, media emphasize narrative and amplification, and fans split by allegiance — Warriors fans emphasize the code and Payton's injury while Brooks supporters emphasize his competitive edge and apology to Payton [1][2][5][6].
As of the latest reporting in February 2026, the adversarial pattern between Draymond Green and Dillon Brooks remains active: public exchanges continued after Brooks left Memphis, including an April 6, 2025 on-court exchange when Brooks was with the Houston Rockets, and there is no public record of a full reconciliation between Green and Brooks [7][1][4].
The publicly documented origin is Dillon Brooks' May 3, 2022 chase-down hit on Gary Payton II that resulted in a fractured left elbow, a Flagrant-2 ejection and a one-game NBA suspension, which Warriors personnel framed as a breach of an unwritten player code (Steve Kerr: 'He broke the code') [1][2].
On May 3, 2022 Brooks chased and struck Gary Payton II in midair early in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals; Payton suffered a fractured left elbow, Brooks was ejected for a Flagrant-2, and the NBA suspended Brooks one game for unnecessary and excessive contact [1][2].
According to Gary Payton II's Players' Tribune account as reported by NBC Sports, Brooks approached Payton in person after the series to apologize and Payton said he believed the apology, indicating a private effort at resolution between those two players [6].
On March 9, 2023 Draymond Green used his podcast to respond to Brooks' March 4 comments and called Brooks an 'idiot,' saying, 'If you ever wondered why the Memphis Grizzlies are not ready to compete for a championship, look no further than this idiot right here' [4].
In an interview recapped by Sports Illustrated on March 4, 2023, Brooks said, 'I don't like Draymond [Green] at all. I just don’t like Golden State. I don’t like anything to do with them,' and added criticism of Green's profile outside Golden State, escalating the dispute into media commentary [3].
Yes. The NBA announced on May 5, 2022 that Dillon Brooks was suspended one game without pay for making unnecessary and excessive contact that resulted in substantial injury to Gary Payton II [2].
Yes. Reporting documents on-court exchanges after Brooks joined the Houston Rockets, including a documented April 6, 2025 foul and face-to-face exchange with Draymond Green during a Warriors–Rockets game, showing the rivalry persisted across team changes [7].