Draymond Green sounded off on the double standards in the NBA over how players are treated when they are traded

• Draymond Green said there is a double standard over how NBA players getting traded are handled.
• Green said players who request trades are vilified while teams can sit players they intend to trade without consequences.
• Green said the NBA needs to stick up for the players, who are expected to stay professional during trade scenarios.

Draymond Green on Monday ripped both the NBA and the media's handling of players who are traded or going to be traded, saying there is a double standard.

Green brought up the issue, unprompted, citing Andre Drummond. The Cleveland Cavaliers center did not dress for Monday's game against the Warriors following reports that the Cavs intend to trade him. Green compared the situation to James Harden's trade request.

"I would like to talk about something that's really bothering me," Green said after the Warriors' 129-98 win over the Cavs. "And it's the treatment of players in this league. To watch Andre Drummond, before the game, sit on the sidelines, then go to the back, and to come out in street clothes because a team is going to trade him, it's bulls---.

"Because when James Harden asked for a trade and essentially dogged it - no one's going to fight back that James was dogging it his last days in Houston. But he was castrated for wanting to go to a different team. Everybody destroyed that man. And yet a team can come out and say, 'Oh, we want to trade a guy,' and then that guy has to go sit, and if he doesn't stay professional, then he's a cancer, and he's not good in someone's locker room, and he's the issue."

Green cited Harrison Barnes being traded mid-game and DeMarcus Cousins learning he was traded during an interview at All-Star Weekend as a lack of professionalism from teams.

Green also noted he was fined in the summer while appearing as an analyst for TNT for saying that he believed Devin Booker should request a trade from the Phoenix Suns.

Green's comments came as the Detroit Pistons also held out Blake Griffin as they pursued a trade or buyout.

Green said there is a double standard with how players are told what they can't say, noting that Anthony Davis was fined for making a public trade request from the New Orleans Pelicans. (Of course, teams can also be fined and docked draft picks for commenting on other teams' players, not playing healthy players, and more).

"Teams can come out and continue to stay, 'We're trading guys, we're not playing you,' and yet, we're to stay professional," Green said. "At some point, as players, we need to be treated with the same respect and have the same rights that the team can have. Because as a player, you're the worst person in the world when you want a different situation. But a team can say they're trading you, and that man is to stay in shape, he is to stay professional, and if not, his career is on the line. At some point, this league has to protect the players from embarrassment like that."

Green ended his media session without taking further questions. He said: "At some point, the players must be respected in these situations, and it's ridiculous, and I'm sick of seeing it."

Watch Green's comments below: