Sometimes it’s not easy being Green
Complex Warrior elevates game year after low blow sunk hopes
CLEVELAND— There are myriad things that Draymond Green does for the Golden State Warriors, all the requisite basketball skills are part of his package since he’s an excellent defender, good passer, solid shooter and he is integral to their success.
But there are moments away from the spotlight at the NBA final, when cameras aren’t capturing every minute, when every word isn’t being recorded or chronicled, when he stands out even more.
Mike Brown, the Warriors assistant who for 11 games had filled in for ailing head coach Steve Kerr until his back allowed him to return to the bench Sunday, says Green possesses those “glue guy” skills so important on any good team.
“The stuff he does on the floor, during timeouts, in practice, in film sessions, whatever, it’s almost irreplaceable,” Brown said of Green before Game 2 of the series Sunday night. “He’s probably the best I’ve seen at it.”
Green is one of the more emotional players around these days, a bit high strung but always willing to offer an opinion.
He’ll chastise the likes of Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry if it’s needed, he’ll dominate timeouts if necessary and seems to always strike the right chord.
“Even the last game during a timeout, they went on a little run, we missed a couple of shots, and then he’s in there basically taking over the huddle,” Brown said of a moment in Golden State’s 113-91 Game 1 victory.
“(He’ll say), ‘We’re better than that, we need to do this, we need to do that.’ It’s whatever needs to be said. Probably 99.9 per cent of the time he says the right thing. And then you kind of go: oh, yeah, yeah.”
While Green is central to much of the good the Warriors have accomplished, he was also central to one of the darkest periods in the current iteration of the franchise.
A year ago, an ill-advised punch to the groin area of LeBron James in Game 4 led to a Game 5 suspension. Without their top defender, the Warriors lost Game 5 at home and Cleveland went on to take the series with two more wins.
The suspension may have been an eye-opening moment for Green and it haunted him early in the current series. It became one of the enduring storylines leading up to the final and Green handled the inquisition well. He bristled a bit Sunday when it was pointed he’s yet to cross the line.
“Just been playing basketball, brother,” he said. “And when you got great teammates like I do, who allow me to play with my emotions and allow me to be emotional when I’m talking to them, to use my emotions to the better for us, it’s easy.
“I think I’m pretty smart guy and I learned my lesson . . . fool me once, you can’t fool me twice.” DRAYMOND GREEN
“So just really trying to lead this team as much as I can in the ways that I do for this team. Not worrying about the officials and all that. I think at the end of the day, I think everyone talks to officials. I talk to them. But going over the edge isn’t going to win me a championship. I think I’m pretty smart guy and I learned my lesson, so I went over the edge before, fool me once, you can’t fool me twice.”
It’d be easy to suggest Green’s become this “glue guy” as a way of making up for last June’s episode, but there are deeper reasons and traits that explain it. He carved out an allstar career from being a secondround draft pick and is willing to take on whoever he has to.
“We were playing against San Antonio (West final) . . . and I was putting (Durant) in a lot of pick-and-rolls and we were scoring bucket after bucket after bucket,” Brown recalled. “Then we started getting a little tired and we started getting a little lazy . . . we were a little lazy with it, careless with the ball, and Draymond kind of settled everybody down.
“So he’s got a feel for what he needs to do, what he needs to say, to keep everybody on the right path.”