The 2004 Detroit Pistons are one of the most unique championship groups in NBA history, as they weren’t led by any superstars but just suffocating defense and aggression. One of the few modern players that tries to replicate their style is Draymond Green, who Rasheed Wallace thinks was spoiled when he was hanging out in the Pistons locker room during their championship season.
“That’s our fault… Everybody in the locker room because he grew up in the locker room. One of his best friends was the son of the GM, so he was around us. Practice, in the locker room, before games, after games. So he heard the different language we talk in when the cameras aren’t there. That’s why he doing the bully sh*t he doing now… He saw that 04 locker room.”
"That's our fault… [Draymond Green] grew up in [the 2004 Pistons] locker room. One of his bestfriends was the son of the GM, so he was around us… That’s why he doing the bully sh*t he doing now."
—Rasheed Wallace
(via @GilsArenaShow)pic.twitter.com/THqJtwMqnL
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 5, 2023
Wallace and Green have a great relationship, facing similar issues in their NBA careers, especially with how referees treat them. Wallace openly declared his admiration for Green on the podcast as well.
“I love him. He’s my young fella, I love him to death. I have the privilege to tell him if he’s right or wrong in certain situations. That’s my young guy, I love him.”
Green is from Saginaw, Michigan, the same place as Lakers head coach Darvin Ham. That’s a rough area, so Green had to always have an edge to himself since he was a child. First, it was to get through the day-to-day in Saginaw and now it’s to ensure he can keep his teammates fired up and engaged, even though it’s started backfiring on Golden State.
Former Pistons Title-Winner Defends Draymond Green’s On-Court Actions
After putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold in November and serving a five-game suspension for the same, the world was aggressively debating whether Draymond Green’s antics were harming the Warriors.
Former Pistons’ star John Salley believes everything Draymond does for the Warriors is a positive thing because Draymond is the hub of energy for the team and also the enforcer.
“I would take him every day and twice on Sunday. Let me tell you, when you have Draymond, Draymond, Draymond, you got energy. Now, people may sit there and say, well, he caused them a problem. He didn’t cause them a problem. He is the energy. And when you have that kind of energy, you win all the time. I played with Bill Laimbeer, and he would yell at the refs and point to the refs, and everyone called him a crybaby. But Bill would say, you know what? I’m going to take all the bullets. You guys give me all the bullets. I’ll take all that pressure. And all that energy from the referees are now on alert.”
Green isn’t afraid of getting ejected or called for a technical foul, so he’ll always be the first person ready to scuffle with a player or yell at a referee if one of his teammates is upset. But this style does have its drawbacks, especially when Green is more concerned with trying to get foul calls or fighting other players.
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