Charles Bassey Calls Out ‘fake Toughness' After Warriors' Fiery Win Over Suns

Charles Bassey calls out ‘fake toughness' after Warriors' fiery win over Suns originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Warriors center Charles Bassey would rather let his play do the talking.

After Golden State’s 116-113 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night at Chase Center, during which Draymond Green was ejected following a fiery third-quarter sequence, Bassey had a chance to log more minutes and fill up the stat sheet in his veteran teammate’s absence.

But as things became heated on the court, Bassey stayed within his game while Dillon Brooks and Co. unraveled, allowing the Warriors’ to overcome a 17-point deficit in the comeback victory.

“To be honest, man, I play hard,” Bassey told Bonta Hill, Festus Ezeli and Juan Toscano-Anderson on “Warriors Postgame Live” after the win. “You know, I’m always going to be there for my teammate. And of course, when stuff is going like that, you just still got to stay composed, man. Stay in the game, you know. Don’t let all this stuff get you out of the game sometimes. It’s fake toughness, and I just got to make sure I’m in the game. …

“It’s all fake toughness, man. You’re not doing that outside.”

Green and Brooks got into it with the Warriors trailing by 10 in the third quarter, after the Warriors’ longtime nemesis took exception to Green tossing his young teammate Khaman Maluach to the ground beneath the rim.

Brooks ran over to Green and the two grabbed each other by the jerseys, resulting in double technical fouls — Green’s second of the game after receiving one for the shove moments before, resulting in his ejection.

Green getting tossed lit a fire under the Warriors, and Bassey stepped up in his teammate’s absence. The backup center scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds after Green left the game, and finished with a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds over 23 minutes.

“It’s the next-man-up mentality,” Bassey told Hill, Ezeli and Toscano-Anderson. “As soon as Dray got the technical foul, got ejected, it’s next-man-up mentality. I just had to step up on my team.”

It remains to be seen if Green will face any further discipline following his ejection, but the Warriors know they’ll see Brooks and plenty of “fake toughness” again as the 2026-27 NBA season progresses.

And if one thing’s for sure, it’s that Bassey will be ready.

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