The Warriors are set to face the Lakers on opening night. Following their final practice before travelling to Los Angeles, the Warriors held a press conference where Draymond Green and other members of the franchise addressed the media’s questions.
Green was asked about Brandin Podziemski’s comments on hoping to take over the Warriors franchise when their franchise player, Stephen Curry, and other key veterans retire. Draymond Green, while not particularly ‘unhappy’ with his comments, did issue a warning to Podziemski about his confidence turning into overconfidence.
But before anything, he clarified that he appreciated the respect Podziemski gave to the current veterans on the team, and he knows it was not meant as a way of being disrespectful. Green claimed that as a veteran who has won four championships with the Warriors, his name and reputation are forever associated with that franchise, and hence, he would always root for the success of the organization. However, he still had to give Podziemski a reality check about where he and other Warriors youngsters stand at the moment.
“When I’m 45, I don’t want to come watch your sorry a** team play. I want to come to this jumping and want to get the whole feeling and vibe, like how it was when we were doing it. And so to hear BP say that, it’s exciting. But as a leader for him, you also understand that comment.”
“So for him, I say, ‘be careful, don’t tell people too much,'” said Green as he explained why this is a key learning moment for Podziemski. “The more you tell people, the more they use it against you to try and tear you down.”Â
“The moment you have a bad game… It’s something our young guys haven’t had to deal with because we’re here is and when things go wrong, they don’t get crushed; we get crushed. But like we’ve gotten crushed for years, so it’s fine. But when you first start to go through that, that’s a different thing that you have to deal with. Like one of the benefits of being a young guy here is that you haven’t had to experience that, and I don’t want him to experience that before he has to,” Green further explained.
“That’s a heavyweight; if you don’t have to go through that, then leave it where it at. So, although we have the utmost confidence in him and what he’s going to become, I don’t want him to jump the gun on that and allow people to use it against him,” said Green.
Draymond went on to explain how the media creates pressure on players to speed up their own timelines due to comments like what Podziemski said about Curry and the Warriors.
“I would hate to see that happen to him because if they try to speed up your clock but you don’t quite have the opportunity to do what they’re trying to speed you up to do, then it isn’t a fair shot, right?” said Green before comparing the situation to what his mom taught him as a young kid, which is to stay and enjoy being a kid until you have no other option but to be an adult and pay the bills. “He will be that, no question. But it ain’t his time to be that yet,” said a supportive Green in conclusion.
Podziemski averaged 11.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists while shooting 37.2% from beyond the arc last season. Entering his third year in the NBA, Podziemski has a long way to go before becoming a potential franchise player for the Warriors in his future.
Do you agree with Green that Podziemski is unnecessarily creating that pressure on himself? Or is Podziemski overestimating his own abilities that he could replace Stephen Curry someday? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
