"I was wrong"- Draymond Green publicly apologizes to Stephen A. Smith after claiming 'losing respect' for NBA analyst

Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors has publicly apologized to ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith for the comments he made recently. Green, on "The Big Podcast with Shaq," claimed that he lost respect for Smith after his comments about him during his suspension in the regular season.

On TNT's pregame coverage of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, Green apologized to Smith for the things he said on Shaquille O'Neal's podcast. It didn't come out the way he wanted, and he did it publicly, so he's apologizing publicly to make up for it.

"Shaq, I was on your podcast, 'The Big Podcast,' and you just mentioned Stephen A. And I said something that didn't come out the way I said, it so I want to apologize to him.

"I said that publicly. I'm gonna I apologize publicly. The way I meant for it to come out, it didn't, so I was wrong for that. I do apologize," Green said.

So, what did Draymond Green say about Stephen A. Smith on "The Big Podcast"? Green was unhappy with the eccentric ESPN analyst for not speaking about his character when he was suspended for hitting Jusuf Nurkic in the face earlier this season.

The four-time NBA champion claimed that he lost respect for Smith because he always defended him from people who had bad things to say about him privately. Here's what Green said about losing respect for people during his dark period:

"To sit back and see those that claim to know and appreciate me as a human being just flow with the narrative that was easy to do. I lost a lot of respect for a lot of people."

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Stephen A. Smith accepts Draymond Green's public apology

Stephen A. Smith quickly accepted Draymond Green's public apology and explained that it's all love between him and the "Inside the NBA" crew. Smith also gave a shoutout to Kenny Smith, who is also from the Queens neighborhood of New York just like him.

Smith even apologized if he said something that may have hurt anybody. He also encouraged everyone to enjoy the postseason, as the NBA Finals is quickly approaching.

"Apology accepted my brother @Money23Green . The love is always here for you, my Queens' brother Kenny, and the whole TNT crew. Love y'all. I apologize as well, for anything I may have done. I'm not trying to hurt anybody. Now let's enjoy this marvelous @NBA basketball we're about to see.#AllLove," Smith wrote.

Stephen A. Smith was previously critical of Draymond Green's actions that led to his second suspension of the season. He also warned the former Defensive Player of the Year to be careful on his return because of his reputation among players.