Draymond Green’s role with Team USA will look familiar
Team USA has no shortage of offensive firepower, putting Draymond Green in the familiar situation of trying to anchor his team’s defense.
The Warriors forward is part of a star-studded group that begins practice in Las Vegas this week before heading to Toyko for the Olympics later this month and includes such talented scorers as Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal. Green, who finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season, will be tasked with setting the tone on defense.
“I look at every defensive possession as a battle,” Green said on a video conference call with reporters Thursday. “And I want to win as many battles as I can.”
This mindset will be key in the U.S. winning gold, but it does not start and end with Green. Coach Gregg Popovich has stressed to his players that they cannot rely on shotmaking alone to beat a field of teams — many of which have more experience playing together than the Americans’ All-Star lineup.
“I have to set the tone and they have to understand that if we don’t defend, we don’t win,” Popovich said. “These teams that we play execute really well. We have to make stops, we have to be able to take them out of what they do as much as possible.
“From Day One, we’ve made it our emphasis. We have scorers. But how well will we defend? That’s what it’s all about.”
While Team USA has won the last six Olympic Gold medals, the United States’ disappointing showing in the 2019 FIBA World Cup serves as a warning.
That team, led by Popovich, did not qualify for a medal after losing to France in the quarterfinals. Coaching for the first time in the Olympics, Popovich does not want a repeat performance.
Following Golden State’s fifth straight Finals appearance, Green was not part of the 2019 World Cup team. But during that Warriors run, he won a Defensive Player of the Year award and was named to five All-Defensive teams while playing with such offensive flamethrowers as Stephen Curry, Durant and Klay Thompson. If anyone knows how to sink into the role as the heart of the defense, it’s Green.
“Just understanding the success that I’ve been able to contribute to teams by giving everything I have on that side of the ball, that’s where it started,” Green said of his passion for playing defense. “Eventually it just became a love of mine. I enjoy it.”
Green — along with Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday — will be instrumental in marshaling a world-class defense. It’s the primary reason Popovich wanted him on the team. Green, according to Popovich, has “a natural affinity and desire to be a great defender.
“What’s a natural affinity? Understanding spatial arrangements, able to do the work early, understanding angles and distances, having the desire to want to stop an opponent. But, at the same time, understanding how that’s done with wisdom. It’s not with reaching or blazing speed — it’s about positioning.”
For Green, the pride he takes in playing defense and playing for his country is why he’s decided to play for Team USA. Green has always saved his best for the world’s biggest stages. There’s none bigger than the Olympics.
Other notes
» Despite Green and Steve Kerr’s presence on Team USA, there is one notable absence: Curry. Though Curry was invited to participate in his first Olympics after leading the NBA in scoring, he decided to spend his offseason resting up for the 2021-22 campaign. Green said he did not try to convince his longtime teammate into joining him in Tokyo.
“Me and Steph have a great understanding, which is a part of our chemistry and part of our relationship. I understand how I don’t need to try to push him to play for Team USA because I already know the reasons why and I don’t need to try to come in between those reasons. I asked him if he was planning on it, he said no, and that was the end of the conversation.”
» Over the years, Green has been involved in many of Golden State’s offseason decisions, frequently joining front-office conversations or calling GM Bob Myers about draft prospects he may like. Speaking with the media about how he’d be able to help the team with the seventh and 14th picks in the July 29 draft from the Olympics, Green said “We all worked from home for a year. So, it’s possible. We’ll see what happens.”
» For those Warriors fans hoping the Olympics serves as an opportunity for Green to recruit Damian Lillard back to the Bay, Lillard, the Oakland native, said recent speculation that he’s unhappy with Portland’s decision to hire Chauncey Billups as coach was inaccurate.
“A lot of things being said. Sometimes words being put in my mouth and I haven’t said anything,” Lillard said in a video conference with reporters. “There’s been a lot of talk and no one’s heard what I’ve said or nobody’s heard me say any of these things. But anything that I have to say, I’m going to say it directly to (Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey) and I’m going to address it directly with my team. So I don’t really have anything to say to you guys about it.”