The Golden State Warriors landed a true gem in Draymond Green. He fell all the way to the second round despite being one of the best players in the nation in college, as not many people thought his game would translate well to the NBA.
According to him, scouts wondered whether he could actually play defense at the NBA level, but that motivated him into becoming the player he is nowadays:
“When I came into the league, I fell in the draft because their No. 1 question was what position would I guard,” Green told NBC Sports Bay Area. “That stuck with me. And I wanted to make everyone eat those words. Every team that passed me, every reporter, everybody that is anybody who has said anything about my defense at that point. I wanted them to eat them words.”
Gladly, coach Steve Kerr gave him a shot and he paid back his confidence by becoming one of the most versatile defenders in NBA history and a DPOY winner.
Green’s game starts with his defense and he kinds of grows from there, as he believes that the way he impacts his rivals’ minds is a huge plus for his team:
“To see what playing great defense, how it can completely snatch the confidence of your opponent, that was enough for me,” Green said. “When you’re playing the game of basketball, when you can take the mind, everything else will follow. If you can take their mind, you can take their confidence. If you can get in their head, everything else follows. Just understanding the success I’ve been able to contribute to teams by giving all that I have on that side of the ball, that’s where it started,” he concluded.
Scouts and analytics can’t measure your heart, hustle, and determination. And Draymond Green is living proof of that.
