You’re absolutely going to miss these kinds of Draymond Green moments — and very specific Draymond Green triumphs — when he’s gone.
Even if you’re not a Draymond fan. Even if you’ve gotten tired of him, or much more than tired of him, over the years. Even if nothing Draymond does is comparable to witnessing Stephen Curry play out and levitate through the greatest career any Warrior will ever have. Even if you’re not a Warriors fan and can’t imagine being one for as long as No. 23 barks, banters, bangs his chest, and otherwise blots out almost all other activity on the court.
You’re going to miss Draymond whenever he retires and goes on to bark and banter through his next career — because there is nothing like watching him play 30 grueling minutes of nearly perfect defense, as he did on Wednesday against the behemoth Zion Williamson in the Warriors’ 104-89 victory over the Pelicans at Chase Center. There is nothing like hearing Draymond and his teammates break down the display of wrestling/karate/ballet afterward. There simply will never be another Draymond, with all the volatile highs and lows and fascinating in-betweens.
Once Curry retires, the Warriors won’t be as relevant as a championship threat or worldwide product … or as easy to treasure. Full stop. That’s a given. But in a more practical way, once Draymond retires or leaves, the Warriors simply won’t be as ruthless. They won’t be as difficult to play. They won’t have as many nights like Wednesday (with Curry and Andrew Wiggins both out), when Draymond at times was a wall against Williamson’s bull rushes, at times was a middle linebacker, and at times was a dancer, sometimes all in a single possession.
“There’s a guy who’s won four championships,” said Buddy Hield, a veteran who’s played against the Warriors and Draymond many times before joining the team this season. “You’ve gotta follow his lead; there’s no choice other than to follow his lead. That’s the culture here. … He sets the tone at a high level and guys gotta compete. When he’s pissed off, you can tell.”
Now, of course, Draymond’s legacy is not simple, mostly due to his own emotional excesses, which he is the first to acknowledge. He’s no longer discussed as one of the best defensive players in the league — or biggest winners — because at 34, it’s been a while since he’s put up a big individual season. And especially because he was suspended twice last season for a total of 21 games for unsportsmanlike actions on the court. Overall, he only played 55 games last season and the Warriors weren’t a great team whether he was in or out.
But on Wednesday night, Draymond said he was motivated by spending the off-season listening to talk about Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren emerging as the best defensive big men in the league. (Hilariously but not surprisingly, Draymond didn’t mention arch-enemy Rudy Gobert, who won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award last season.)
Yes, it’s all related. His ferocity inspires his teammates, including halftime speeches and sideline bellows. It also can drag everything down when it goes too far, which has happened many times over the last several years. But it’s all motivation for the 2017 DPOY. Draymond hasn’t made the NBA First Team All-Defense since 2021. He is very aware of this. And a night after Williamson scored 31 on Draymond and the Warriors (albeit in a victory), the Warriors’ defensive leader wanted people to see him harrying Williamson to a 5-of-20 shooting night.
“I spent all summer watching everyone talk about Chet and Wemby and what they’re doing defensively,” Draymond said. “Don’t forget about Dray. I want to be in that conversation as well. And I think I’ve earned the right to be at least in the conversation.
“So every game I’m coming out here motivated defensively to get back on the First Team All-Defense. I think I had a really good year last year defensively, I just didn’t play enough games. So that’s a goal of mine, to get back on that team, and put myself back in the Defensive Player of the Year category.”
This is all extremely important for the Warriors, who have been famous for the Curry-Klay Thompson “Splash Brothers” dynamics, then added Kevin Durant for three seasons and two titles, but always based their championship runs on defense. The defense slipped recently — not coincidentally right after former defensive coordinator Mike Brown left to take the Kings’ top job — all the way to last season, when they ranked 15th in the league with a114.5 rating. The last time the Warriors finished in the top echelon defensively was when they were No. 2 in 2021-22 — and won the title.
The Warriors haven’t faced anything close to a top offensive team yet this season, but they’re 4-1 and things look very battened-down on defense. The path to the rim isn’t as wide open as it was last season. The pressure on the ball is obvious. Draymond is everywhere. They’ve got multiple effective defensive options at almost every position. And they’re currently the No. 2-ranked defense in the league with a 98.4 rating (Oklahoma City is No. 1 at 91.3), with nobody else under 100.
One aspect of this is likely mostly statistical noise: The Warriors are giving up only 6.2 fastbreak points a game, the lowest in the league and almost nine points fewer than they gave up in transition last season. That’s sure to go up when they play better teams like OKC and Boston on this upcoming road trip.
But the structure of this just feels stronger — with longtime NBA veteran player and former Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse installed as the new DC and after general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. put together a roster filled with quality defensive players.
“Yeah, I think we’re built around our defense, no matter who’s out there,” Brandin Podziemski said. “Offense is always going to come when you have Steph Curry. Our identity’s built on defense and rebounding and getting out and running in transition. I think that’s something we can hang our hat on no matter who’s out there and who’s injured.”
There’s been a steady stream of plaudits for Stackhouse’s early influence on this season, most notably from Draymond, who, of course, matters most in all defensive matters. According to Trayce Jackson-Davis, Stackhouse has emphasized putting pressure on the ball and has given help defenders the green light to attack with a double team or hedge if they feel the moment is right. The result so far: The Warriors are averaging 11.6 steals per game, third in the league. Last season, they averaged 7 per game.
Also, as Draymond noted very happily, Stackhouse sends out grades of every player’s defensive performance in every game, which is “a level of accountability that we haven’t had over the last couple years” — or, Draymond didn’t need to say, exactly after Brown left for the Kings.
“I feel like that’s becoming our identity: Getting stops and getting out and running,” Draymond said. “I think we’re becoming a really good defensive team.”
They’ve done this without Wiggins, probably their best perimeter defender, for the last two games. They’ve done it against the Pelicans in this back-to-back set when the Warriors really needed a defensive focus with Curry out. Both players should be back very soon and the Warriors will need them to survive this very tricky five-game road trip, starting Saturday in Houston. Notably, this is exactly the point of the schedule when last season started to blow up on the Warriors, who started 5-1, dropped a couple of road games, then lost five in a row at Chase Center — including the tussle that led to Draymond’s headlock of Gobert and a five-game suspension — and never seemed to fully recover.
Are things more stable now? You never really know with this team. But you know they’ve got Curry, which is always special. You know that Draymond is capable of very special things — and crazy things, too. And you know this won’t last forever, the way the Warriors’ journey with Klay ended last off-season (with Klay coming to town with the Mavericks on Nov. 12).
When it’s all over, you will miss every bit. And Draymond’s part won’t be the least of it.