In this episode of The Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green asks Damian Lillard to evaluate Ja Morant’s trajectory and current standing among NBA point guards. Lillard reflects on the shared experience of coming from a mid‑major college, emphasizing how limited talent in college forces players to develop leadership, communication, and the ability to make teammates better. He argues that this background gives Morant an edge in the NBA, especially when paired with a well‑constructed supporting cast. Lillard outlines the Memphis roster—Steven Adams, Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr., De’Anthony Melton, and others—highlighting that the team has “got it right” around Morant, giving him a genuine shot at success. He also shares his own perspective on respect and competition, noting that he never bows down to anyone and that this mindset remains central to his approach. Throughout, the conversation stays conversational and appreciative, focusing on personal experience, team composition, and the intangible “X‑factor” that separates good point guards from great ones.
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What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. I wanna talk to you about a young point guard that I have, that has earned a lot of, or gained a lot of respect from me. And I know how you are. Like a lot of guys in this league, you really ain't rocking with, you kind of stay to yourself. But I also know you do respect Guys who get it out the mud and another mid-level guy like yourself who play, I mean, mid-major guy like yourself played at the mid-major level, Ja Morant. What do you make of what he's doing with his team, especially at this stage in his career? 'Cause not many people can really relate to what he's going through. Like I can't, as much success as I had early on in my career, I can't tell you what Ja Morant is doing. And there's other guys in this league who's big time that can't either. That did it at the level that y'all, that you've done it at as early in your career as you did. And now what he's doing, what do you think about what Ja doing and where he's falling in that pecking order of great point guards in the league?
Nah, I think he's rising quick, you know? And I think a few things, bruh, when from experience as a mid-major point guard that ends up being a top pick in the draft and being a good NBA player, Is that as a mid-major player, bro, you're playing with less talent than what everybody else played with. And you're learning early how to get the most out of that and how to make a team win without everybody just being nice. Everybody, you know, having the same ability that you have. So you gotta learn how to lead. And that ain't always scoring all the points or getting a bunch of assists. You gotta learn how to make people go. You gotta learn how to make people, like, come along with you, like, and do everything they can to do, have a part in winning. And I think you saw that, like, CJ did that. Kawhi did that. Steph did that. You know, it was like, all of us that come from small schools, it's like, we have that responsibility in college with lesser, like, less talented players. So when you come to the NBA, and you playing with more talent and you got the ability yourself, like, you know how to make it happen. You know, there's one thing I know how to do and that's make it happen. And I think a big factor in the level that you do that at is what are you surrounded with. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don't. You know, like, I feel like if I had the team that I came into the league with for 2 more years, I would be a champion already.
Mm-hmm.
If I still, if I played my 5th, 6th year with LaMarcus, Robin Lopez, Wes Matthews, Nick Batum, Mo Williams, like if I still had all these dudes on my team as a 6-year player, I would have won one. But, you know, that didn't happen for a long enough period of time for me to come into, you know what I mean, what I was coming into. So for him, I think— Yeah. They've got it. You got Jaren Jackson.
Mm-hmm.
You got Steven Adams, an experienced center that's gonna set screens, he gonna rebound, he gonna talk, he gonna be the enforcer. And then you got Dylan Brooks. Then you got Desmond Bane. Then you got Ja. And then you got Jones coming off the bench. And then you got, DeAnthony Melton. DeAnthony Melton. Like, what's the athletic, they be throwing it live to—
Brandon Clark.
Brandon Clark. Like, they got it right. You know what I'm saying? So like, they got him, but they got everything else right. So now it's like, he got a shot. They just gotta keep the team there. You know what I mean? So I mean, he, I got a lot of love and respect for Josh. Like, the thing, the number one thing that I love is, when I came in the league, like, and you was the same way. Like, people might not have liked you like that. Like, I don't think people disliked me, but when I came in the league, bro, I didn't have just no above and beyond respect for dudes like that. Like, I knew who was who, but I wasn't coming in bowing down. Like, my mentality was like, I can fuck with everybody.
Absolutely.
Like, it might be, more highly regarded or got a better body of work, but like, I'm not doing no bowing down to nobody. Like, and I feel that way to this day. And he has that about him, you know?
Absolutely.
He has that about him, like, ain't no bowing down. And I think that's my number one favorite thing about him.
