Draymond Green Ripped For Accusing KAT of Ducking Warriors After Friend's Death

Draymond Green is facing a ton of backlash for comments he made about Karl-Anthony Towns' absence against the Warriors this week ... after it was revealed the Knicks star was grieving the loss of a family friend.

The four-time NBA champ initially dropped the speculation on his podcast this week ... claiming he "heard" KAT was faking an injury just so he didn't have to go up against his enemy and former teammate Jimmy Butler on Tuesday.

KAT returned to the court in the Knicks' overtime loss to the Lakers on Thursday ... and after the game, he revealed he was away from the team to mourn the loss of Sarah Holtzman, who died of cancer.

Green was made aware of KAT's reason after the Dubs' contest against the Nets ... and while he shared his condolences, he also promoted his podcast and deflected ownership over his comments at the same time.

"That’s unfortunate," Green said. "I'm sorry to hear that. That sucks. But my comments that I made, was that 'People I heard was this, and that's what I heard.'"

"You never wish that on anybody, but 'The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis' must go on."

Green's initial remarks referenced an "infamous" practice with KAT and Butler when they were still on the Timberwolves ... but like he said Thursday, he couched everything and chalked it all up to relaying the chatter that was going around.

As for KAT, he explained his past few days with the media ... saying, "This is one of those moments where I had to be there for my family and be there for the kids that lost somebody really special to them."

KAT has dealt with loss in the past ... as his mom, Jaqueline, died from complications with Covid.