Attention basketball fans: There is an amazing phenomenon going on here in the Bay Area. It is the emergence of first-time All-Star- to- be- Draymond Green. If current league MVP, Steph Curry, is All Universe, then Mr. Green is All World so far this season. The 6'7" fourth-year pro from Saginaw, Michigan is doing things that are historically significant. And for you folks on the East Coast who can't stay up late enough to see the Golden State Warriors games (they start at 10:30 at night there), you are missing one of the greatest shows on earth!!
This week Draymond produced back-to-back triple-doubles (meaning any combination of three double-digit totals on points, rebounds, assists, steals, or blocks in one game) and spearheaded two Warrior wins while the team was VERY shorted handed due to multiple Warrior player injuries. Green had a triple-double (10 points/ 11 rebounds/ 16 assists) in Houston on Thursday night and had 29 points, 17 rebounds, and 14 assists in an overtime win against Denver at home Saturday night. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last player to match or exceed his Saturday game triple double stats was Larry Bird in 1987! And Draymond had 4 steals as well. If you include the steals component (steals started being an official statistic in 1973), he is the only player ever to attain those totals. And he is the first and only player in Warrior franchise history (Warriors began in 1946) to have back- to- back triple doubles. Finally, he leads the league in triple-doubles this year with six and has one more for his career than his much more heralded teammate, Mr. Curry, has in his career. Early this season, Warrior executive and NBA great, Jerry West, surprised people by saying that Draymond Green was one of the top ten players in the league. Eyebrows were raised then but now, they no longer are. Green is one great player as well as one tough dude.
How did this happen? How could the 35th pick in the 2012 draft turn into an "All World" player? Teammates Harrison Barnes and Fetus Ezeli were chosen before him in the same draft. Barnes was taken with the seventh pick and Ezeli with the 30th pick. My Warriors fan friends and I were giddy when the Dubs chose Green because he was a proven winner. He slid that far down in the draft because pro scouts were worried he was too small to play power forward in the NBA. Those same worries surrounded fellow Michigan State star, Magic Johnson, when the scouts at that time said he couldn't shoot. Wrong. Green was a four-year player at Michigan State, where he took the Spartans to two Final Fours. His senior year, Michigan State won the Big Ten Championship as well as the Big Ten Tournament and Green won Big Ten Player of the Year. He was only the third player, along with Oscar Roberson and the aforementioned Magic Johnson, to have two career triple-doubles in the NCAA tournament. I suspect people will soon be comparing Green to Magic on a regular basis.
Green progressed as a pro each year in the league. Early on, he was inconsistent on offense, particularly from the free throw line and sometimes tried to do too much. He got his chance to develop when former Warrior and two-time All-Star, David Lee, got hurt in November of last season and Green was slotted into the starting lineup. He never relinquished that spot and was a key factor in leading the Warriors to the NBA title, while also being named to the NBA first team all defensive team. What impressed me immediately about Green was his incredible intensity, his insatiable will to win, and more than anything else, his complete unselfish play, which fortunately for the Warriors, turns out to be infectious. Plus, the man can absolutely rebound in traffic. This year, he has shown a vastly increased versatility and with his success, a lot more confidence in his overall game. The best part he does it all with a big smile on his face! The guy flat out loves to play hoops.
On New Year's Eve against the Rockets, on the second night of a back-to-back road trip without star Curry playing, Green controlled the game while only taking seven shots. His court vision and willingness to share the basketball were the difference in a game that on paper (missing 4 of the top 8 players and getting drubbed the night before in Dallas) Golden State was supposed to lose. Against the Nuggets Saturday night, Green came out shooting and made four threes in the first quarter and set the tone by scoring 18 points and dishing 4 assists in the first quarter. Curry started the game but reinjured himself and didn't play the second half. Additional injuries to other players meant the Warriors entered the overtime with only 7 players available. What makes Green's accomplishments even more amazing is the stamina Green has shown (he logged heavy minutes this week while covering the opponent's best frontcourt players, as he always does.) The man gets a rebound and leads the fast break by SPRINTING up the court as fast as any forward in the league. And by the way, the Warriors record this year is now a gaudy 31-2.
The only player in the league named Draymond (I think) is averaging only 15.1 points a game for the season. But he also is averaging 9.3 rebounds and 7.4 assists per contest as well as 1.5 blocks per game (for his size, he is a fantastic shot blocker) and 1.5 steals per game. Can you spell "all around player?" This guy remains aggressive all the time, ie: his motor runs hot. As does his mouth. He is an all-league trash talker but when you can walk the walk, I guess you can also yap. He does get technical fouls because of his mouth. I heard him at the Kings game over Thanksgiving, ask a ref after a questionable call, "Aren't you embarrassed by that call?" From what I can tell, the closest Green has gotten to getting in trouble off the court was when he imbibed a bit too much during the Warriors championship parade festivities in Oakland after winning the title last June.
What I can see this year is how much work Draymond has done to get where he is. Take his three-point shooting improvement as an example. The way he steps into his three point shot so confidently and then drains it only happens by repetition; over and over again. He is shooting a terrific 41.3% from downtown this year. You can see his overall improvement by looking at his 4 years in the pros in the chart below:
Draymond's Career-- FG% // 3pt % // REB // Points/game // Wins
2012-2013 ===== 33% /// 21% //// 3.3 ////// 2.9 /////// 47
2013-2014===== 40% /// 33% //// 5.0 ////// 6.2 /////// 51
2014-1015===== 44% /// 37% //// 8.2 ////// 11.7 /////// 67
2015-2016===== 46% /// 41% //// 9.3 ////// 15.1 /////// 31* *through 33 games
For Draymond, I suspect the category above that matters most is the one on the right
representing Warrior wins. Let's be clear: I am a HUGE Warriors fan and totally biased (I have been on the Draymond bandwagon for two years now), but this guy with a unique name as well as a unique game, is playing some of the best basketball I have ever seen and it is really fun to watch. And what he did this past week without two starters and without his coach (Steve Kerr has been out with bad back all year) all year, makes it even more incredible. He deserves a Sports Illustrated cover. Everybody (at least in the Bay Area) loves Draymond. Check him out!! See my photographs below.
