The Warriors big man sounded off on “The ETCs” about his budding media career and why he’s not about to settle for a postseason play-in game.
If Draymond Green is nothing else, he’s a talker. Loud, outspoken, direct, concise, and unafraid. The Golden State Warriors big man and former NBA Defensive Player of the Year will tell it like it is.
In many ways, that’s what has allowed him to become one of the best defenders in the NBA today — and if you let him tell it, ever. His ability to communicate on the back end is what helped him anchor three championship defenses.
But that same ability to examine the game and communicate what he’s seeing on the floor on the fly is almost guaranteed to lead to his next multi-million-dollar career as well.
“I love TV,” Draymond told Kevin Durant and myself on the latest episode of Boardroom’s “The ETCs” podcast. “It’s fun. I love it because I find it hard to turn on a TV nowadays and learn something about the game of basketball.”
It’s those two passions that make Draymond a natural on the court, as well as on the set of TNT’s Inside The NBA. His debut on the show last September drew rave reviews.
And not just for his willingness to confront Charles Barkley, either.
It was Draymond’s knowledge of the game, and his ability to project that knowledge so eloquently, that had fans clamouring for his return to the show and continue making the case for a full-time gig educating fans on the game he loves so dearly.
“That was big for me because that’s exactly what I want to do. Like, that’s exactly what I want people to take away,” Draymond said of the positive reception he received from viewers following his TNT appearances. “I want you to turn on your TV and if I’m speaking, you can learn something about the game of basketball. You know, I always say [that] the game of basketball is a beautiful sport. It’s such a beautiful game. But it’s a very fine piece of art and it’s delicate.”
“And if handled incorrectly, you can really fuck it up,” he said.
Draymond’s desire to promote the beauty of the game runs alongside his other goal for basketball media: get rid of the drama. “I’m watching so many people fuck our game up because they don’t know the game of basketball,” he said. “They try to apply numbers here where you can’t really apply numbers. They want to pick at this drama because they can’t see what’s goin’ on over here on this side of the play, they can only watch one side; they can’t process all of the shit that’s going on.”
But Draymond still has time on the court before he transitions off of it. The three-time All-Star recently drew headlines for saying a postseason play-in game wasn’t “motivating” for him; at 31 years old and in the first year of a massive four-year, $99.6 million contract, it’s not just a shot at the playoffs that motivates Green — it’s still the NBA championship.
After a 50-loss season in 2019-20, and an up-and-down season this time around, Draymond is ready to get back to his winning ways of old.
“I’m never miserable winning,” he said. “Winning is fun. Like they always say, ‘Winning cures all.’ Like, that shit is not no lie. Winning cures all. There is no better feeling than walking into an arena knowing that we’re probably gonna win. In most arenas, you walk in knowing, ‘Yep, we gonna win.’”
Draymond is doing his best to get Golden State back to contending for a title, even as the clock ticks on his contract, his career, the Warriors‘ title window, and everything else going on in his career. When the time is right, his second career will be waiting for him. And he’s sure to hit the ground running there.
“Too many people have voices that don’t know shit about the game, you know what I’m saying?” he asks, rhetorically. “And it’s fuckin’ the game off and I hate that side of it.”
Soon enough, Draymond will get his chance to fix it.
Click here to listen to this episode of “The ETCs” podcast with Draymond Green now.
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