Are Warriors a Fading Dynasty? + Spurs Dominating Thunder & Lakers Frustrations

What's up, good people? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and to those of you that did or didn't, I hope you have a Happy New Year as well. On today's show, I'm taping this on Saturday in Toronto before our game against the Raptors tomorrow, so I'll get into a little bit of the drama that happened with the Warriors this past week before going around the association and discussing the big storylines like JJ and the Lakers, the Spurs making a real case for the top team in the league. Let's go. Let's get Let's get right into it. Christmas Day win versus the Dallas Mavericks. Always good to win on Christmas Day. Obviously, you know, when you're playing on Christmas Day, you know, games affect your mood. I don't think people realize that. And so when you're playing on Christmas Day and you lose that game, it affects your mood. So it's always good to get a win on Christmas Day. I've heard a lot of talk of different people about how great playing on Christmas Day is, how much of an honor it is. And like, yes, it is an honor to be considered one of the draws, you know, the great draws that is in the NBA. You know, when I say draws, I mean media attention, eyeballs, people wanting to see, people being interested in the particular team. It's great. Uh, To play on a day where everybody's watching, it's incredible. All of those things are great, but two things can be true at once. Playing on Christmas Day also fucking sucks. And the reason it sucks is, number one, what I just said, it can affect your mood. Number two, we are human beings and just like everyone else enjoy Christmas Day with their families. That kind of gets messed up for us.

Mm-hmm.

In their homes. Or on a vacation with their families making memories. We don't get that opportunity. So I hate when people like, "Oh man, it's an honor to play on Christmas Day." People should shut up. Like, no, you should shut up. Because whether you played on Christmas Day or not, it, like, I don't really care of the perspective, whether it's the perspective of someone that played on Christmas Day or someone that has never come close to playing on Christmas Day or an NBA game for that matter.

Yeah.

My stance on it is the same. Playing on Christmas Day is great, it's fun, you know, you get all the eyeballs, but you miss family time. And so for all of those that are like, you should be honored, like honored to miss your family time? Honored to miss your kids opening gifts? Honored to leave your kid and go to work? Because no one works on Christmas Day, so we're going to work, right? So like everybody say, oh man, it's such great honor. I just want to give you a little perspective. It's a great honor to go to work on Christmas Day. Right? Yeah. Follow me. All right. So there's that. But in saying that, you know, we took on Dallas, first time playing against Cooper Flagg. Got off to a rough start. And then he got going. And when he got going, you're able to really see like the potential and like— Yeah. The athleticism, ball handling. He gets downhill pretty well. Um, he gets to his mid-range pull-up. I think his mid-range is a little inconsistent right now, but that comes with the territory. More reps he get at that, that can become a dynamic shot for him, especially the lift that he gets on his shot. And for guys to keep up with him, it's usually going to be guys that's smaller than him. So if, you know, you think KD, uh, obviously KD is a different beast. I'm not saying Cooper Flagg is KD. Cooper Flagg has the opportunity to be special. KD is something that we've never seen in the NBA. I think Cooper Flagg will be very special, but again, KD is something we've never seen before. But think KD, when KD gets to the mid-range, there's not really much you're doing in contesting his shot. You know, you're gonna try to get a good contest, you're gonna time it to try to make sure the contest actually affects him as opposed to mistiming it and he's 7 feet. Right, like you think Cooper Flagg, 6'9", with the athleticism that he has, the ball handling, the quickness, and getting to the mid-range. I spoke a few weeks ago about Cooper Flagg, and I was just saying, you know, if he's going to be a great scorer in this league, he's going to have to figure out what that go-to thing is, right? And I spoke about Steph 3, LeBron to the cup, KD is actually mid-range, you know. Um, what is that go-to thing for him? But right now he's a little all over the place, as most rookies are, you know. It's not as if that's a problem. You're a rookie, you're trying to figure out the NBA game. And, you know, lately he's been leading that team in scoring, you know. So, um, it's also great to— you know, I spoke before about on this podcast just about him playing the point guard, and to see him backsliding in his natural positions and actually see him being the player that everyone expected him to be, um, you know, it's fun to watch. But like I said, he got going there a bit, just getting to the hole, getting the mid-range. I think one thing that he's going to have to figure out, that is Cooper Flagg, I think he's going to have to figure out shot selection. Again, a rookie. Most rookies have to figure out what's a great shot selection, especially rookies that are getting the opportunity to actually shoot and have the ball in their hands. Going to have to figure out what's a good shot, what's a bad shot, what's a great shot. Time to score, all of those things. That comes with the territory, that comes with experience that Cooper Flagg does not have yet, but that he will have. And I think he'll figure that out. But overall, he competes on the defensive end, which I love. You know, I think a lot of guys that compete early on the defensive end but become more and more scores, they stop defending. Now, you know, I would challenge Cooper Flagg and being a leader of an organization and a franchise that he don't stop defending as he become more of a better, better scorer.

Yeah.

Think Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi Leonard was scoring and locking people down. Like, I think that's the golden ticket. When you can do that, puts you in a different category, you know? And so hope Cooper Flagg stays locked in on that side of the ball. But overall, you know, he's really starting, you know, he's really putting together a great rookie season after a rough start and being played out of position. I think he's putting together a great rookie season and be that he has some vets around him, I think it's also good for him. That's done it. Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis. You talking guys that's really done it at a— Kyrie Irving. Really done it at an elite level and he get to be around those guys every day, which is rare for a number one pick in year one. You know, and so overall, love the growth that I've seen from game 1 to 30 or whatever game it is for them. And looking forward to continuing watching that growth. With Cooper Flagg, the growth of Cooper Flagg as he continued on his journey. Always good to play Klay Thompson and having him back in Chase Center. Never a good feeling to look over and see him on the other side yet and still. Day before the game, DJ and I went to putt-putt golf. My son, me and my son was hanging out and Klay came and met us. Kicked me and DJ's ass in putt-putt golf.

Yeah.

Which was fun, but always great to see my brother, man. Saw so many reports like, oh man, Klay don't fuck with them. Like, all right, y'all know Klay. Y'all got it. But anyway, like I said, always great to see my brother. Amazing seeing my brother happy. Happy he didn't hit a bunch of shots against us. We needed to win. But also great to see Klay playing better. You know, everybody was on Klay at the beginning of the season like, oh man, he's washed. He can't do this in the The reality is, Klay pretty much start every season off awful. And he's finding his rhythm, he's finding his stroke, and then before you know it, I remember one year he was shooting like 26% from 3, 22% from 3, something like that, and within 2 weeks he was at 40%. That is Klay Thompson, you know, and if you know anything about Klay, you know he get off to these bad starts and then he gets it going and he becomes Klay Thompson, and he has gotten it going as of late. Really found his stroke. Obviously coming off the bench now. But like I said, it's great to see my dog, always great having him back at Chase Center. And then lastly, just Christmas Day, the vibes around our team. The vibes around our team is actually great. I think our team right now is more connected than it's been all season. You know, we're starting to finally get fully healthy. We got Sdot out, but you got, Big Al back. Big Al came back, hit 4 threes right off the bat, 4 for 4. Great to have Big Al back out there. Got Melt back, obviously. Melt's been back for a few weeks now. We're starting to get healthy and whole, you know, and it's beautiful. It's, you know, we're— I think, you know, this team can still put a run together. And, you know, we're 16 and 15 now, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah.

But I think things are starting to turn. I'd say over the last few weeks, although they weren't equating to wins, we started playing better basketball. And now they're starting to equate to wins, I think, which is, you know, it's great for us. But overall, I think the vibes around our team is high. Guys band together. I know a lot of people made a lot about the thing with me and Steve and me leaving the bench. And I've spoke about it, so I'm not gonna speak about it much here, but obviously for our listeners, wanna give you a little bit. I left the bench because I thought it was the right thing to do. The conversation was too heated and it wasn't getting any better and it was getting more and more hostile for me. And I thought like, nah, I'm just gonna leave because number one, I love how people's like, oh man, he left the bench, he walked away. And people like try to put, People try to act like real life doesn't relate to basketball at all. You know, people try to do these things. I hate when people say, "Oh man, the team this, the team that." Like, there's all these unwritten rules about teams and what you do in situations when there's a team. But in a situation where one gets into it with their wife, or one gets into it with their brother, and then when I say get into it with the wife, I don't, I don't mean anything physical. Obviously, that wasn't physical. You have words with your wife, you have words with your brother, you have words with a friend, you have words with a fan, you have words with Joe Blow, you have words with Joe Small, and things get heated. I think the best thing to do for human beings is to remove yourself from the heated situation.

Mm-hmm.

Because things are said that shouldn't be said. Things are done that shouldn't be done. And you can't come back from those things. So as someone who's been in a bunch of these situations, I'm ecstatic with my growth to say, you know what? This ain't right. This ain't going right. It's not about to turn right. It's only going to go further left. Let me remove myself for the sake of the team. For— but— but also more importantly for myself. So I don't say anything that I can't come back from. So I don't do anything that I can't come back from. It's heated right now. Let me excuse myself and get myself out of here. And contrary to popular talking heads, it was the right thing to do. And everybody who was a part of that moment, coaching staff, players, organizationally, thinks it was the right thing to do. So for all you talking heads out there that say, oh man, he stormed off, be careful who y'all listening to. Because storm off is storming off yelling and talking. I walked off and walked politely to the locker room. And what did my team do? Exactly what needed to be done. We were playing great. We weren't making shots. We continued playing great. We start making shots. We beat the team by 20.

Draymond Green.

Right thing to do, Draymond. If I sit there and argue and yell and curse and do all of these things and go at it and me and Steve go, go, then people say Draymond is crazy, he's wrong, he has— But when I walk away from the confrontation and remove myself from the confrontation, 'cause I didn't walk away, I said, "Coach, take me out." I'mma move out. He said, great. And he took me out and I removed myself. So again, contrary to popular talking heads, I did not storm off. We agreed in the moment, I'm, I'm, take me out, I'm removing myself. So that's enough of that. And our team is connected as it's ever been. And it's great. And I love it. Boom. There's that. I know a lot was made this week about Steve's comment about us being a fading dynasty. And, you know, there could be a lot of emotions when you read a statement like that or hear a statement like that. And for me, I try to process them. And when you get down to it, the reality of it is, it's true. Dynasties don't last forever. What you do is you try to prolong them as long as you can. You try to build on them as much as you can. But it's true. Now, he didn't say we're a dynasty that fade it. He said we are a fading dynasty. Guess what? Steph Curry's in year 17. 17. I'm in year 14. Klay Thompson, who's gone, would be in year 15. When you talk the dynasty, Steve Kerr is in his 12th year coaching and he did not start coaching. This is Steve's 13th year coaching. No, 12. Let's see. I mean, Steve's 12th year coaching. He didn't start with us from the beginning. We've been at it for— Bob Myers is gone. We've been at it for a while. So when he say we're a fading dynasty, everyone knows that, he's not throwing salt. He's not putting the team down. It's true. But it's our job as the ones inside the dynasty to try to prolong it as long as we're given the opportunity. And that's where we are. So I didn't quite understand everybody making such a big deal about it. Obviously, people are going to make a big deal about it because it came on the heels of— Draymond Green. Everybody's opinion, oh man, that was too crazy. And it was actually less crazy than others. So came off the pin, came on the heels of that. Everybody throws their opinions in. Quite frankly, it's true. How long can we extend it? How much more can we do? That's the goal. That's the mindset. That's the mission. That's the reality. But as I said, we've been playing a lot better over the last few weeks. I hope, you know, as we look forward to the next few weeks, obviously trade deadline, coming up, we need to continue to play well. We need to continue to make sure that we're giving Mike Dunleavy the best look that he can have in order to make the best decisions that he needs to make for this team around the trade deadline. I know Mike's committed to that. I know Joe's committed to that. And as players, we got to hold up our end of the bargain and make sure that the effort that we're putting out there is representative of who we are and giving them— giving our staff the right thing to judge off of. I always say if a team go out and play with no effort, you can never judge if the game plan is correct because they're not playing with any effort. It's kind of the same thing here. You can never judge if the team is great if we're not proper— if we're not playing with the proper energy and effort, uh, focus that it requires to win at a high level. And I think we're, you know, we're right there. We're turning that corner. We're starting to play really good basketball and we're building on that. And I think it's coming at a good time of the year for us. So over the next few weeks, obviously want to win a bunch of games, try to create some separation in between that amount of wins and the amount of losses, which I think we're more than capable of. We are on this road trip right now. And then when we get home, we're pretty much home for the better part of the next 3 weeks. So be a good time to try to put together some wins and, you know, move ourselves back up the charts when it comes to the Western Conference playoff race. And continue working towards that. But most importantly, continuing to become a better team and taking it day by day, making sure that along this process we're improving each and every day. So that's what I want to see over the next few weeks. After the break, I'll get into the Lakers' frustrations, the Spurs' dominance over OKC, the Knicks' big Christmas Day win, my updated contender list, and much, much more right back after this.

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Now, as promised, we'll move around the association. JJ Redick's frustration with the Lakers is at the top of the list. He's been publicly blasting the team. A lot of people say, is it too much? Um, can a coach only do that a certain amount of times a year? Listen, I don't, I, I don't know whether it's too much or not. I'm not in their locker room. You don't, I don't have a sense of how their guys feel.

Quite honestly, their guys may feel like they are struggling than is necessary.

And there's no one-size-fits-all. Every team is different. Dynamics on teams is different. Leadership on teams is different and how that leadership responds to different things. So I don't know that it's too much. What I will say is oftentimes for coaches that I've seen that call their team out, more often than not, they usually lose their locker room. They usually lose the team. And the voice— the, the voice and message start to fall on deaf ears.

Yeah.

We're 30 games into the season. They're in 4th place in the West. I can't quite honestly say I think that he's losing that team. I know people keep making a big deal out of it, but also the thing that he keeps saying is the same. We need to play a better effort on the defensive end. We need to get back in transition. We need to guard our men. It's the same thing. So it's not like he's ranting about these different things. It is the same thing. You know, so I'm not one that's gonna sit here and say, oh man, JJ's losing the team or he's gotta stop these rants. Their dynamic is their dynamic. I find it interesting when guys try to make it out like whatever their dynamic is when they played or teams that they've seen, that that glove fits all. That's just not the case. Everyone's different. Everyone's dynamic is different. You know, you have to ask yourself the question of, you know, how you think LeBron and Luka feel about their coach doing that. And quite honestly, I think they're both really good with JJ Redick. I think they both have good relationship with JJ Redick. And I'm sure they both feel like their defense need to be better. You know, these aren't two losers. These are, you know, LeBron's obviously won at the highest level and Luka just took a team to the finals a year and a half ago. So they know what it takes. So I can't imagine they're sick of their coach doing that. Obviously you want to correct the problem. So they're probably sick of not correcting the problem. But I think LeBron and Luka is fine with JJ. I think you'd know. It'd be very obvious if they weren't. So, you know, when I think about the Lakers, I think they're a damn good offensive team. Defensively, they've needed to be better. They haven't— Yeah. Defending in transition well. In this, this league, everybody's running, uh, pushing the speed, the pace, the tempo of these games are crazy. So if you're not getting back in transition, it's gonna be tough to compete in this league. And I think that's their biggest deficiency right now. Overall, I think they got a good team, um, but I think defensively, I, we, I think you all know the importance that I feel about the defense. And then So I think if they can't figure it out defensively, it's going to be a tough year and they'll start to go the wrong way than what they were doing. But if they can figure it out defensively, they got the weapons on offense, man, that's for sure. Austin Reeves goes down with a calf injury that's going to sideline him for a better part of the next month, which sucks. He was having an all-star year. He still may make all-star. We'll see how it all shakes out. But Does suck to see him go down with that calf injury yet. Very happy that it's a calf and not more. They said he rushed back or something. I don't know. Don't get me to spread false rumors, but just what I heard. So like I said, happy it's not anything else than just a calf injury that he can rehab and get back to competing at a high level in his contract year like he's been doing. He's bet on himself and he's been cashing in on it. Hopefully he can get back healthy and go get his bag like he was doing. Spurs beat OKC 3 times in a 2-week span. Everybody's saying the Spurs are better than the Thunder and they're a team to beat now. One thing you must understand is the defending champions is always the team to beat. Until they're no longer the defending champions, they're the team to beat.

Yeah.

So it's great for Spurs to beat them. But OKC's the team to beat. Make no mistake about it. It's funny because I think what, and obviously I think the Spurs are real. Like great guard play, great big man, great pieces, whole roster. Like really good young coach. I think they're the real deal and to be reckoned with as we move forward in this league this year, but even and beyond. But in saying that, I think one of the things that this shows, if anything else, is how important matchups are in this league. You're talking a team that's dominated pretty much everyone and cannot seem to get it figured out with one team.

Excuse me.

With one team. If that to me, if that to you doesn't scream how important matchups are in this league, I don't know what else does. You're talking a Spurs team that we went and beat twice. We lost to OKC by 30. Now we had an awful game, Steph's first game back from injury. Dylan Harper was out when we played the Spurs, but that's just all a part of the game. OKC has run through everybody except the Spurs. And so it just makes it very interesting to see like how these two teams match up. And, you know, I love how Vic said, you know, we're going to leave some of our secrets for us. We don't want to tell all our secrets. That's, that's, that is elite level stuff right there, you know, but also shows you how seriously the Spurs are taking these games. OKC, the defending champs, may not be taking them as serious. Doesn't change anything for the Spurs, and it doesn't change that I think they are a damn good team. But make no mistake about it, the games do mean more to San Antonio than they do to OKC. That's just the nature of the beast. Just the nature of the beast. Doesn't mean San Antonio is not real, but the nature of the beast is they're going to take that game more serious than OKC. You know why? Because OKC are the champions, and they're like, yo, we want to be the champions next. We got to go through those dudes. So I respect it. I respect San Antonio's mindset when it comes to these games. They locked in and they got something to prove. And when you're trying to be that next team up, that's the mindset you have to have. And right now they are showing that they have that mindset, especially when it comes to the Oklahoma City Thunder. And you gotta tip your hat to them. Gotta tip your hat to them. This season is very reminiscent of 2016. The whole year we were on this crazy trajectory, obviously winning the most games ever in a regular season in NBA history. And right behind us, 3, 4, 5 games the entire year were the San Antonio Spurs. I don't think people realize the year we won 73 games, the Spurs won like 67 or 68. So like we needed all of those wins. And right now, OKC's been having this incredible year. I think they're 2 losses, if I'm not mistaken, they're 2 to 3 losses in the loss column ahead of San Antonio after getting off to this historical start, right? So it's very reminiscent of 2016 to me, and I'm interested in seeing how this plays out. Um, I think also interesting how —well, San Antonio has played when Wimby isn't on the floor. Because when Wimby is on the floor, we know how dominant they are. They've played extremely well with Wimby off the floor. And that's just a testament to R.C. Buford and the roster that they've built. Um, they've put together an incredible roster and they don't miss a beat when guys go down. Uh, Harrison Barnes has been a steady vet. Um, he's playing great basketball. I know the presence that he's probably been for them as a veteran. Like they're really putting it together and it's been fun to watch. Really fun to watch. As promised, I would give my updated contenders list. My original contender list was the Nuggets, the Thunder, the Lakers, the Clippers, and the Warriors. As of right now, you can, I mean, you can ax the Clippers off that list. They have struggled mightily and they're right now 9-21. Yeah. Maybe 10-21. But they've struggled pretty bad and you don't know what they're going to do at the trade deadline. I read something that said they're trying to figure out whether they're buyers or sellers. If they're sellers, obviously you can't compete. If they're buyers, we'll have to see. But right now they are not a contender. I still think the Nuggets are a contender. I still think the Thunder are obviously contender. The Lakers. They're fringe. If they can't figure out the defensive end, you can't contend. But if they can figure out the defensive end, we know they have the offensive firepower. But they got to figure out that defensive end. Right now, they're on the fringe, but not quite a real contender. And then the Warriors. We are 16-15. Can't say you're a real contender at 16-15. However, I think it's starting to come together for us. And I think for us, the one thing that stands out is we have a great defense. What struggled is our offense. And now our offense is starting to turn the corner. Great defense, top 2 defense in the league, you can contend with that. And so we're not a serious contender right now because of the record. We're not even a playoff team right now. But down the line, I think the Warriors are returning to your list of serious contenders. However, adding to this list, San Antonio has to be on your list of serious contenders. They must be on that list. I think Boston has shocked a lot of people. I don't think they're serious contenders, just impossible without JT. But I think they've shocked a lot of people, but not quite serious contenders. Detroit Pistons. They got a serious contender record. Um, and they're putting it together. And like I said before, they lost a series that they should have won last year. So I think you have to put them in that category out of the East. And then the Knicks are playing great basketball. And although I, although I don't believe the Knicks are going to win the championship, they're playing great basketball and a serious threat to come out the East, probably playing the best in the East. But I don't know if I'm gonna put them as serious contenders, but Tyler Kolic's played really well. He's been a spark plug for those guys. OG Anunoby's been playing great. Jalen Brunson's obviously doing what Jalen Brunson does. Josh Hart off the bench, like they have depth now and they actually lean into that depth. You know, so I think they're on the fringe. Need to see more, but they're on the fringe. So that's kind of my contender list, roughly, in a nutshell. We'll visit that in a few weeks and see what it's looking like. Man, the Christmas Day game with the T-Wolves versus the Nuggets, the Nuggets won 142 to 138, was absolutely insane. I'm not sure how the Timberwolves up 9 with 2:50 left in overtime lose that game. That's just a game that you can't lose. But the swings in that game was insane. Like the swings were nuts. I couldn't believe the game had that big of momentum shifts and scoring shifts. Like it was absolutely incredible game to watch. Ant-Man finished with 44, 6 rebounds, 3 assists. Julius Randle, 32, 7 rebounds, 6 assists. Joker, 56, 16 rebounds, and 15 assists. Jamal Murray, 35, 2 rebounds, 10 assists. Like what a game that was. And that's Denver without Aaron Gordon. No Cam Johnson. No Christian Braun. And they still were able to pull that win off. I thought it was very interesting in watching Minnesota's game plan, defensive game plan on Joker. They didn't get to it a ton, but I thought it was very interesting. They— put Rudy Gobert at the block and they put Jaden McDaniels on Joker and then Rudy Gobert just shadowed him wherever he went. Quite honestly, it didn't work. He had 56 and 15. But I like the thought. It kind of reminds me of 2015. We played the Memphis Grizzlies and what we end up doing when we were down 2 to 1 is we put me on Zach Randolph.

Yeah.

No, excuse me. We put me on Marc Gasol and I was— my role was to straight up guard Marc Gasol. We put Harrison Barnes on Zach Randolph. And Harrison Barnes' role was to not ever make contact with Zach Randolph's body. You're literally running circles around his body in front of him. Don't make contact, don't engage, just run around. If you need to curve, circle all the way around and get— just get in front of him because Bogut's on the backside because they got Tony Allen in the game in the corner, and we're not guarding Tony Allen in the corner. And man, did that stifle them. So then the next game, Tony Allen didn't play, and then they just weren't good enough defensively to keep up without Tony Allen on the court. Tony Allen was the best defender to come through the league. They, they weren't good enough defensively with Tony Allen off the floor. And offensively, we used Tony Allen against them. And that's kind of what it reminded me of the other day when they had Rudy at the block and they were guarding him with Jaden McDaniels. I would love to see how that played out in the series if that happened, but 56-16 and 15, you can't quite say anything worked. Quick thumbnail I just want to mention before we move on. Keontae George of the Utah Jazz has been balling. His last 7 games, he had 31, 8 assists, 7 boards, 24 4 assists, 20 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 27, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 34, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 37, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 39, 6 rebounds, 8 assists. Keontae George is someone that has always gave us bits. And in a situation like Keontae George is in where you're drafting every year 2, 3, 4 first round picks, You can get lost in the shuffle. And last year it seemed like he, you know, they drafted Isaiah Collier, seemed like he was going to be one of the guards that could possibly be a part of these rebuilds and get lost in the shuffle. And I worried about that for him because I think he's a damn good player. And I have since he was a rookie. And, you know, sometimes that happens. You've seen it in OKC a bit, right? Like Draymond Green got lost in the shuffle a bit. You know, you see it with different guys when you're doing these rebuilds through the draft sometimes where it just gets overcrowded at a position because they're drafting about the best available every year. And I worried about that with Keonte George. Well, let me tell you, I'm not worried about that no more. He has arrived and he's here to stay. Great to see the young fella taking that next step. Craziest story of the week, 7-foot center James Naji, not Namji, Naji. James Naji. Crazy story of the week, 7-foot center James Naji, the number 31 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft has committed to Baylor. This guy was a higher draft pick than me. This is not baseball where you can go back to school after you're drafted. And yet it is. The 21-year-old will play the second half of the season. Not only is he, is he going back to school, he's eligible to play right now. Second half of the season and has been granted 4 years of eligibility by the NCAA. At what point does this stop? High school kids are doomed. They are. They're going to get a guy who just played for FC Barcelona, was the number 31 pick 2 years ago, almost 3 years ago. What's a high school kid going to do? No college coach coming to recruit high school kids unless you're like a top recruit. Other than that, you can go get guys out the G League. You can go get guys from Europe, pro leagues. If you're a college coach, you're crazy if you're not doing it. And so you have a lot of— Unless your time is all right and you're going to build like how we built. But you have a lot of these coaches like Illinois, they're all in on it. And they're just going to get grown men to play against kids. And I think it's crazy. But what is coming from this, I, by the way, I think it's wrong. But what will come of this is so many front offices and general managers are going to make mistakes on guys. And the reason they're going to make mistakes, you take this guy for instance, I don't know much about him as a player. So I'm just using him as an example. But you take this guy, James Nanji. If he come into college and show out, you're automatically gonna jump him in the top 5, top 10 pick if he comes in there going crazy. But this guy's been training with FC Barcelona, one of the top EuroLeague teams. He's been playing for them. So his knowledge of the game. Yeah. Physique, eating habits, all of that stuff is different. He's a pro. He a pro. Now he's about to go play against college kids. So if he go dominate, then some of these GMs gonna be like, yo, this kid's a top 5 pick. But is he really? Again, I don't know much about him, so I'm just using him as an example. But is he really? Because I'd imagine he didn't leave as a starter for, like, one of the main guys for FC Barcelona and then go to Baylor. I can't imagine he was one of the main guys. But if he goes show out in college, which is obviously a lower level than EuroLeague, it could be a bit of fool's gold. So I think the job for front offices just got that much tougher when you're going to be judging guys who's been pros for 3 years and now they go play college and say, look, man, I'm this good. I think it's a little dangerous. I think we're going to start seeing a lot of mistakes from general managers if they start drafting guys like this. But we'll see. But I think it's crazy. And to those high school kids that's been working their whole lives for college scholarships, I'm sorry. Good luck. Wow. But anyway, we'll see how that turns out. I want to thank you all again for tuning in to the Draymond Green Show. We've got a really big stretch of games coming up, a real chance to put some wins together. Together and take a leap in the standings. So while we do that, y'all enjoy this and I'll talk to y'all soon. That's a wrap from this episode. Deuces. If you're rocking with the Draymond Green Show, be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app. And while you're there, go ahead and drop a 5-star rating and leave a review.

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