For the past 8 years, Draymond Green has been an important and beloved player for the Golden State Warriors. But in this series, he hasn’t been himself.
He followed up a 2-point performance in Game 3 with a 2-point, 14% shooting night in Game 4. Things got so bad for Green that he was benched in the closing minutes on Friday night — and he was forced to respond after the final buzzer.
Here’s what he had to say:
“Definitely never thrilled coming out of the game with seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter in a must-win game. I’m not gonna sit here and act like I was thrilled. I’m a competitor. But, at the end of the day, if that’s what the coach thinks, then I just gotta roll with it. I had to keep my head in the game and whenever I went back in I tried to make some plays. That was just my mindset, don’t make too much of it. I’ve always been on the bandwagon of if you’ve got something that’s wrong with you, you stick with it. This is what it is.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5ZeONqjEuo
This wasn’t just a one-time thing for Draymond. Unfortunately, the star forward has played terribly for the entire series so far and it has been alarming.
Despite Draymond’s statement, the numbers are pretty staggering.
As one NBA analyst tweeted on Friday, Draymond Green has more stars on his podcast (4.8) than points per game against the Celtics this year (4.6 in five total games).
The Warriors managed to pick up a win in Game 4, narrowly avoiding a 3-1 deficit in the series. But if the Warriors want to come out on top in these Finals, they will need more from Dray.
It remains to be seen how he will respond.
