Draymond Green answers fan questions for the holidays | The Draymond Green Show

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. As I said last week, this is the 7th episode, and this is a special holiday edition episode. This will be the mailbag episode where we will take questions from our listeners, subscribers, and I will answer those questions. So my producer Jackson will be asking me your hard-hitting questions. That you all have submitted, and I will be answering those questions. I'm extremely excited to do this. Number one, as I said last week, I think it's important that your voices are heard. You know, you guys subscribe and you listen weekly about— And you end up just listening to what I want to speak on or what I think the hot topics of the week are in basketball. And I think it's important that I take some of your questions and what you want me to speak on, and we do— and we— and I answer those questions, and, you know, we'll make that this week's episode. Uh, so I am extremely excited about it. I'm happy to be answering your questions. I hope everyone had an amazing, amazing holiday, you know, spent time with your family. I think, you know, we all understand the importance of that, especially being stripped of it, you you know, quite a bit in the last couple years. So hope everyone had an incredible holiday and I hope you are excited for this episode, as excited or more excited than I am, but I am extremely excited. So I think that'll be tough. So Jackson, what you got for us? Let's hear what the people wants to hear.

Okay, first up from @imshylabs on Twitter. I'm gonna slightly change the question because it's sort of, it was asked before Christmas, But what is the best gift that you gave a member of your family this Christmas season? And also as part of that, what is your favorite holiday family tradition?

I think the best gift I gave my family this Christmas season is a dog.

Whoa.

And that is for my entire family who lives in the household with me, my fiancée Hazel, my 3 children, Nana as well, although Nana probably doesn't want a dog, but Nana doesn't hate dogs, but I'm not sure she's going to care too much about this dog because Nana and Baby C are super tight. So bringing another baby in the house, I don't know how Nana will feel about that. No, but honestly, the dog, uh, my Hazel has been talking to me or trying to get me to agree to having a dog in the house for 3 years.

3 years?

And my children love dogs. DJ loves dogs, Olive loves dogs. Cash does not like furry feeling things, and I'm not sure how she's going to feel about this dog. It's like any furry type thing she touches, she like pulls her hand back. So I'm not sure if she's going to, I mean, I'm not sure how she's really going to grow with this dog. Like, I just don't, I don't, I mean, we'll see. Like, does she adjust to it well? But every time she touches it or fur-like things, she pulls her hand back. So we'll see. But that, that was the gift. I think that was the gift of this year where like, they're all in heaven. They love it. They all been asking for a dog forever. And the reason I wouldn't agree to the dog, because my mom is like, Mama. Allergic to dogs. And so I know my mom won't come out, like, and I love when my mom come out and visit. And I know my mom won't come out if we have a dog. So now I'm not— so now I have to figure this out. Like, what's going to be the deal with my mom coming to visit? Like, is she just going to— in our, in our building, she can stay in like another little apartment type thing, but then it's like, she's never coming upstairs. So are we just— like, it's a whole thing. So that was the hesitation on getting the dog, but That was the best Christmas gift for the family.

And I think— Did you get a hypoallergenic dog? Did you try to, what kind of dog did you get?

I don't think it's, it's a golden doodle. I don't think it's—

Okay, then yeah, you're good.

Are they hypoallergenic? Yeah, yeah.

My mom is also allergic to dogs. We got a Labradoodle many years ago for that exact reason. So you should be fine.

Oh, I don't know. My mom, I don't know. She's not gonna believe the dog's hypoallergenic, but we'll see. So yeah, I mean, that was the gift. And I think a Christmas tradition, I'm ashamed to say this, but other than opening gifts these days, we don't, and wearing like our Christmas pajamas when we get the chance and just, you know, really diving into like hanging with the kids and like them opening those gifts and playing with those gifts and the excitement of that. You know, having some milk and cookies. We don't have really many holiday or Christmas traditions. Now I had Christmas traditions growing up, but now that I've been in the NBA for 10 seasons and 9 of 'em I've played on Christmas Day. So the entire time of me having my own family, I'm playing on Christmas Day. So not really many tradition because sometimes I'm on the road. So like, how do you still, And so I think more so just like spending that time together, opening some gifts, having our PJs on, and you know, that's kind of what it has to be for now.

So that leads me to a question from me. I'm gonna jump the line on all of the Twitter questions from everyone, but I've always been curious, someone like you who's played on Christmas so often, what is your Christmas Day schedule like? Do you still get to do presents with the family? Like, I guess it depends on what time your game is. I'm like curious how that, how you navigate Christmas on a game day.

So in situations where the game is away, we tend to do it either before or after Christmas where we'll open the presents and kind of celebrate as if it's Christmas Day. If it's a home game, it's a little different 'cause you can either do it before or after. But it's, I always tell people, playing on Christmas Day is like, As an athlete or as an NBA player, it's like the best thing ever because you know, like it is as big of a regular season game as you're gonna have. Like Christmas Day, the whole world's watching, you know it. Like everyone's home, everyone's watching. That's just the way it goes. I mean, growing up for me, when I remember like getting, eating food and getting stuffed and then like land, on the floor next to my grandfather's Lazy Boy. He would sit in the Lazy Boy and lay out and fall asleep. And we watch games all day. I would lay on the floor, stuffed, fall asleep still and just watch games all day. And so like everyone's watching on Christmas Day 'cause everyone's home, everyone's with their family. And there's marquee games on Christmas Day. There's matchups that you wanna see. I think the league does a great job of that. And so, When you're home, you can either do it before or after. But then what plays in, what plays in, what takes, or what plays a part in what you can do is the time of the game. Now I've had a very early game at home. I've had the latest game at home. And so when you have the very early game, then you just wake up, you go to the arena, you get, you know, handle your business, do your work, and then you come home and you have the rest of the day, you know, to celebrate Christmas, which is what I enjoy the most. When you have the latest game on Christmas Day, it really sucks because you still spend your whole day preparing for a game. So you can't really indulge in whatever it is that you wanna indulge in, spending time with your family and really being in that moment. Because again, this is probably the biggest game of the regular season. You're locked in and focused on that. And so,— the latest game sucks. I've had both of 'em. I've had a very early game, I've had a very late game. And the one that I enjoyed the most was the earliest game, was the early game. You know, for instance, this year playing in Phoenix on Christmas Day, which was a 2:00 PM game as far as Pacific Standard Time goes, but 3:00 PM Mountain Time. ABC game, timeouts are longer, the game ends at, 5:45 Mountain Time, 6, 5:45, 6:00 PM it ended. You know, so all of a sudden an hour and a half between media, getting to the airport, actually taking off and get home. And then you get home at 9, 9:30. And so for us this year, we celebrated on Christmas Eve because our flight didn't leave till 8:00 PM on Christmas Eve to go to Phoenix to give guys some time with their families around the holiday. And so we celebrated on Christmas Eve. Yeah. And kind of had that entire morning, entire day to celebrate, and evening until I had to leave for the airport. But I think it's a very dicey situation because as I said, it's the best, you know, it's the best game. Like it's great, you wanna play in that game. But on the flip side, it sucks because you end up altering your family time. You end up the same, time that everyone just gets to sit at home and relax and enjoy their family. You don't get that. You know? And like, we're not paid holiday time. You know, some people work on holidays. Like they, we're not paid holiday time. We're not given anything extra for that. Like it's just another, like just another game on the schedule, except what it means to you is more, right? Like, you know, it's a bigger game, you know, the lights are bigger. So. Yeah. That's all about what it means to you, but we're not compensated for playing on Christmas Day. So, you know, on the flip side of it, it sucks. It kind of sucks a little bit for your kids. It sucks a little bit as far as your family, just your family as a whole goes. It sucks as a human and just wanting to like enjoy Christmas as everyone gets the opportunity to do. But I wouldn't trade that because like I said, as a competitor, the stage is, when the stage is brightest, that's when you want to be out there.

And—

Like I said, until you get to the playoffs, there's no bigger stage in a regular season game than Christmas Day with everybody watching. And so it's a gift and a curse, the good, bad, and the ugly. But like I said, I'll take the bad and the ugly because you put that work in, you wanna shine bright on the brightest stage that you could possibly shine on. So as a competitor, You enjoy it. But the human side of me, I hate it.

I like that. That's insightful stuff. Next one from @maverickrecords. What's on your pregame playlist?

What's on my pregame playlist? I don't know, Maverick. I don't really have a set pregame playlist per se. I think for me it's, you know, there are, you play 82 games. There are some games that you're extremely hyped up for. And when I am extremely hyped up for a game, I like to play slower music, '90s R&B, kind of slow it down because I have to like keep myself here. I'm already jacked up and I go start playing some music. I'm ready to jump through this glass window right here. Like, and just like, what? Like, let's go. Like, it's time. And I just be too amped up. And when I'm too amped up, it works against me. Nah, you're pressing. You're fouling because you're overreacting to something. You know, it starts to work against me as opposed to work for me. So when I'm already super amped up about a game, I'm gonna listen to some '90s R&B, slow it down a little bit, kind of chill, kick back. But if it's one of those soft Tuesdays and you playing against somebody who shouldn't be that bad in the NBA, uh-huh. Then I gotta turn me on some— some, you know, some music that'll get me there. And yeah, I mean, at times it's different though. Like then at that point, like, you know, it's some Post Malone, Drake, some Lil Baby, some DaBaby, you know, Jay-Z, you know, just stuff that like gets you going, gets you moving a little bit, you know, like, like kind of bring you into yourself, you know, you kind of feeling yourself now and it can kind of give you that little boost. So I think for me, It's no set playlist. I kind of vary on the mood that I'm in that day and how I'm feeling about that particular game.

Okay. Next one from @MattBullymore. Who is the funniest guy you've ever had in the locker room? I'll let you include Team USA if you want, but either Warriors or Team USA.

The funniest guy I've ever had in the locker room. The funniest guy I've ever played with for two different reasons. One is Nick Young because he is just a character. Character and like funny, like that's just who Nick is. Like swag, he super funny character. And Brandon Rush.

Yeah.

And for two totally different reasons. Brandon Rush is very funny, but unintentionally. Like not trying to make you laugh, pretty quiet guy, but when he speaks, hilarious. Like, unintentionally hilarious. So I would say those two guys, but in very different ways. Like Nick is funny, he's in your face, he's intentional. You know, he's like, that's just who Nick is. He like the class clown, although he's not like class clown per se, but you get where I'm going with it. He's like the guy that's in the mix and like always into something. And then Brandon Rush is unintentionally just one of the funniest guys I've ever been around. Yeah.

Brandon Rush, that's a deep cut.

Yeah.

Shout out Brandon Rush. From @opticsplendor, who is the best trash talker in the league?

Well, the best trash talker in the league, I think you're a subscriber to this podcast, I hope. I hope you're a weekly listener. And if you are, you get the opportunity to listen to the best trash talker in the league weekly. I don't think there's any better trash talkers in the league than me, and I stand on that like Pepsi. I guarantee it. You heard what Frank Lucas said. I stand by my product. I guarantee that. No, but I think there is some guys who are good trash talkers. I always tell people when they don't— I think you started to realize it now with like, the more he talks on Twitter or the more you— he's caught saying stuff to fans in the stands. KD, I've always told people like, KD was one of the biggest trash talkers to me since I came into the league. Like always have been. But he wasn't always like outwardly to where you could see it. But if you played against him, you knew. And it would be like disrespectful stuff. Like, "Hey, who is this?" KD would turn a dude around, like trying to look at the back of his jersey, like see his name on the back. Like K would say stuff to people and you like, yo, you Kevin Durant. Like there's not really much I can say back. Like what are you gonna say back to Kevin Durant? I always had something to say. And I probably said something first, knowing me. But KD was one of the biggest trash. And KD got like these one-liners, like, oh, he drunk at the bar. Like KD hit somebody with a cross. Hey, he drunk at the bar. You know, like.

That's a good one.

Like K got one-liners for days. Like I play dominoes a lot. E-40 got crazy one-liners. Gary Payton got crazy one-liners. Like KD got one-liners for days. And so I think if I'm not going with myself, I would have to say KD for sure.

It reminds me of the way you're describing it, kind of like Larry Bird-ish where it's just like, he's always like, who is guarding me? Like, who is this that you're sending at me? You know?

Who are you? And again, what were you gonna say to Larry Bird? Like, oh, you not nice. Like, some dudes talking, you like, bro, you trash. Like, why are you talking to me? Like, but like Kevin Durant talking, like, what are you gonna say? Like, bro, you can't dribble. Like, ah, you can't shoot. Like, you can't check. Like, what are you gonna say? You gotta be real creative. And so for me, You know what I'm saying? I can create now. Like, and so I can go there with him, but like Larry Bird, like what are most people gonna say? Like, if, so if you not witty enough to just come up with comebacks, like that ain't got nothing to do with, oh bro, you suck. Or like, or you can't do this. Or you can't, like, if you ain't witty enough to come back with, to have comebacks, that's not like those things, then you screwed. And so I think that is a, that's definitely a good comparison for what I know of Bird, right? Like I never played against Bird. From what I've heard, what I've seen, I think it's a pretty good comparison. And obviously two great basketball players.

Yes, sir. Next one from @JakeVsMingo. Who is your favorite player to guard?

My favorite player to guard. My favorite player to guard is also KD. And the reason my favorite player to guard is, I think for me, that's the toughest challenge. Is I can't, like, what can I do to make it hard on Kevin Durant? He sees right over the top of me, he's 7 feet. He's probably a little quicker than me. He's probably a little more athletic than me. He's probably a little faster. So I'm supposed to lose that challenge. Like I'm supposed to lose that battle. What can I do to change that outcome? Can I take on that challenge that we all fail at? Can I be successful in taking on that challenge? Like I think for me, guarding the best and taking on that challenge of the best score to do it, like that's fun. Like I enjoy that.

Yeah.

And more importantly, I get better guarding him because if I can do some things against him, like that opens up some things for me to be able to do against anybody, you know? And so I think you always wanna play the best and you like always wanna like take on that challenge of the best. And I think Kevin Durant is the greatest scorer we've ever seen. To have the opportunity to guard that guy is incredible. And so I'd have to say that's my favorite guard because how many, how, often do you get to say, "I guarded the best," or, "I went head to head with the best at said thing." Like, you don't get to say that often. So, you know, I've had times where, like, I played good defense on him. I've also had a time where he put 54 up on me. Like, it just is what it is. But I enjoy the challenge because it doesn't get any better than that when you talking about scoring the basketball.

Next one from @notmaxheinrichs. What's your favorite restaurant in SF/Oakland?

My favorite restaurant in San Francisco/Oakland.

Hmm. I don't wanna offend any Bay Area residents. I know those are different places, but that's just the question that Max asked, okay?

Definitely two totally different places. I think for me, I don't eat out a ton. I have a chef. And so when I eat out, I mostly eat out on the road. It's funny because I was just having a conversation with a couple of my homies last night. And we were talking about restaurants and one of my homies was telling me, "Day, it's this new Thai restaurant out in Walnut Creek. Like, I think you'd like it. The vibe is nice, like good food. Like, I think you'd love it." And I'm like, and then we start talking about restaurants. And I actually said to them last night, like, I can't, like, I have a few restaurants. Like if you come into town and you ask me, "Where should I eat?" Like I have a few go-tos that like I can point you in a great direction. But most of the time when someone coming to San Francisco or into the Bay and they ask me like, "Where should I go eat?" I hit up Mark Spears. 'Cause Mark Spears, he knows every restaurant around here. He has relationships with the owners. Like Mark Spears, and he will never lead you wrong. Like you, I can hit Mark Spears and be like, "Mark, I'm looking for such and such type food with such and such type vibe." "This, that, and the other." And right off bat, he like, "Here, go here," or send them here. And like every time I ask Mark, whether I go or I send someone, rave reviews. And so like, Mark Spears is the guy out here if you need to know. Like he knows everybody, he knows all the spots, chill spots, restaurants. Like Mark Spears just has a great feel for it and a great— He's a good dude. Like he just knows everyone. And so I always go to Mark Spears, but if I had to say which one is my favorite, hmm, that's such a broad question because like—

It is a broad question.

You got favorites for different reasons, right? Like my favorite breakfast spot may not be my favorite overall spot, but like, Like how do you find a favorite overall? You know, I'm going for like different things at different times. But if I had to pick one and say my absolute favorite, hmm. As someone who doesn't eat all the time because I do have a chef and I try to, at least when I'm at home, I try to be eating the right way. You get on the road, it get dicey. So at least when I'm at the crib, I try to be eating the right way. If I had to pick one restaurant that's my favorite, I would have to pick Lamont. I really love Lamont. They got like these fries with like chicken and like this dressing on them with some cheese. It's fire. They got the empanadas, which is amazing. The rotisserie chicken is great. So if I had to pick one restaurant, I would probably say Lamont.

Okay, I'll give it to you. I've never been, so I can't talk shit about it. But shout out Mark Spears, man. That is an earned reputation right there.

Absolutely. Mark has never, ever— I say Mark been giving me spots for like 5, 6 years now. Never once steered me wrong. Not one time.

Okay.

Not once. Whether it was for myself, Or me giving it to somebody else, 'cause somebody will hit me like, "Yo, where should I go eat?" Or, "What's open late?" Like, that's a thing too. Stuff in the Bay close early. Restaurants close early. There's only a select few spots that you can go to late. Mark, where can I go that'll stay open? And if they won't stay open, Mark knows somebody there that I could get 'em to stay open. Mark Spears is the guy.

All right, from @bayareabrett, this is a pressing question there.

Which, by the way, shout out to, I always confuse the name because there's several of them, Bistro Boudin. Incredible. It's on the pier. I like their food a lot. It's good. Shout out to them.

Shout out to them. Next question is from @bayareabrett. This is a question that a lot of people, a lot of different people asked, but Bay Area Brett was the one who I saw first. Who are your Draymond Green's top 5 defenders of all time?

My top 5 defenders of all time, Gary Payton. And by the way, when I start talking top 5 of defenders all times, I'm not naming Bill Russell and no disrespect to Bill Russell. We all have the utmost respect for Bill Russell, but I'm not old enough to see Bill Russell play. So I can only speak, from like the very small sample size that I've had the opportunity to see. And so the all-time conversation, it, like, I hate it because how many people can really talk to you from a place of experience when talking all-time something? Like, it's a very hard thing to do. So this is going to be more so from people that I've had the opportunity to witness play, whether I was younger, or, you know, currently today, but I didn't get to have the opportunity, which I wish I could have. I didn't have the opportunity to see Bill Russell play with the consistency that you need to see someone in order to put them on a list like my all-time defenders. That's no disrespect to Bill Russell or anybody else of that time or a time that come from before me that I haven't really been privy to seeing a bunch of. Like, I've seen what mostly everyone has seen, but like, let's just face it, back then the recordings and all of those things weren't where they are today. You know? So I can't say Bill Russell just to say it because I know Bill Russell was a great defender because I didn't see enough. Does not mean I doubt that Bill Russell would be top 5. I just personally can't say that. That would be very hypocritical of me to say that. In saying that, Gary Payton, Tony Allen, Ben Wallace. And as much as Ben Wallace was a shot blocker, Ben Wallace played during a time period where they was dumping the ball into the post. And I watched Ben Wallace guard Shaq. I watched Ben Wallace guard David Robinson. I watched Ben Wallace guard Tim Duncan. I watched Ben Wallace guard I mean, the list goes on and on. Like, that's during the time where bigs was like getting the ball and they was posting. Like, offense was ran through the bigs.

Yeah, and he was undersized doing so.

Absolutely. So I want people to understand it's not Ben Wallace because Ben Wallace blocked shots. Like, does not make you a great defender 'cause you block some shots. So Ben Wallace, Yours truly.

I was wondering if you're gonna wait till the end or not.

And I wanna go with Scottie, but Scottie been pissing me off with all this stuff he been doing lately.

All right, so is it Scottie or is it not Scottie?

Nah, I can't go with Scottie, man. Scottie, come on, Scottie. Like Scottie's a legend. Scottie a legend. Like we don't need all that from Scottie. You are a legend. MJ, a legend. Like, man, we grew up on Scottie. So I'm a little upset with Scottie right now because Scottie is allowing people, Scottie allowing people to drag his name through the mud. And I don't like it. I don't like it at all.

It was a little unnecessary.

Like, yeah, he's, I feel like he's allowing people to drag his name through the mud. And I don't like that one bit. 'Cause Scottie name shouldn't be dragged through any mud. But when you start comparing yourself to Michael Jordan.

You get left off Draymond's top 5 list. That's what happens.

I mean, it's just like, come on now. So I'm struggling with Scottie just because that's been bothersome. Another great defender. A guy who I, like, I think, guy's a great defender. My number 5 would be, this 5th one is important, so I'm taking my time.

I know it's the last spot. It's okay, take your time. A lot of options, a lot of good ones out there. MJ, Rodman, Metta.

Absolutely, absolutely.

KG.

Absolutely. And you know what's crazy is, Each guy you've named has come across my mind. Each guy you just named. A lot of great guys out there. And I think for me, honestly, I have to go with Dennis Rodman. And the reason I have to go with Dennis Rodman is because Dennis Rodman can guard anyone. Like he could, like Dennis Rodman could match up with anybody.

Yeah.

It's one thing to be able to guard anyone, But can you get matched up with anyone? And a lot of guys in this league, they can't be just matched up with anyone. Dennis Rodman matchup could be anyone. And I think that was incredible. I see some of that with myself sometimes, you know, sometimes you come out—

With what?

And Dame is your matchup. Sometimes you come out and AD is your matchup. You know, it happens. So much love to Dennis Rodman. Ton of respect for Dennis Rodman. And just the way he guarded everybody, like, and rebounded, it's incredible.

All right, we'll go a little, after that very serious basketball question, we'll do something a little bit weirder. From @sirarw, you are tasked to sing one song to save the world. What song are you picking?

I gotta get every lyric right?

I guess so. It wasn't really clear what, I don't know if it's, I don't know if it's, it could be either get every lyric right or just like you put on the best performance that you can put on, you know, you're trying to impress the aliens to try to save the world.

What song would that be for me? "All My Life" by Kacey and JoJo. It's my favorite song.

Wow.

My absolute favorite song. I can, I get very passionate about that song. And I could probably get every single lyric in the song correct. So, I mean, every, hmm, all, every, like, you name it, I could get everything right in the song and I would be really passionate about it, which means my best would shine through. See, people, when you passionate about something, do that. Yeah. You know, don't be chasing what you think make the most money. Don't be chasing like, oh, this look like I saw such and such make— do what you passionate about. So just a little lesson from a question that has absolutely nothing to do with what we're talking about. I'm passionate about KC and JoJo all my life, son, which means I will give you my best performance. If you have something you passionate about and you question it, go for it, regardless of who questioning it. Yeah. Who doesn't think it has the, it's possible to be this. If you are passionate about it, you're gonna give your all. Do that. So I got Casey and JoJo all my life.

Life lessons from the Draymond Green Show mailbag. Let's see, what should we do next? How about from @hirsch13, who is the most exciting young player in the league? You don't have to pick one.

I'll let you pick like a couple, but just— Oh, Anthony Edwards. That's, that, I mean, that goes without question. The most exciting young player in the league, Anthony Edwards. I mean, come on. He, the guy can give you 40 as we know, he's done that multiple times. The guy can put anybody in the rim as we know. I mean, I, part of the reason you don't see Anthony Edwards dunk on more people is because people move when they see him about to take off now at this point. Like you don't want to be on the wrong end of that. So, Anthony Edwards for sure. I think he has star potential. I actually thought this pre-him getting drafted. He has star potential. He's extremely athletic and exciting and fun to watch because at any point you can get dunk of the year, highlight of the year. He can fill it up with the best of 'em. I mean, he's, you know, in his second year, so he's still getting to that point of like doing that whenever he wants to. Anthony Edwards for sure the most exciting young player in the league in my opinion.

I like that. I like that. And also just unbelievable press conferences every time.

It's funny, I was telling him the other day, he, I literally DM'd with him yesterday. I said, you are the funniest interview in the league.

He's so funny.

Gotta have you on the podcast. He like, anytime, just let me know anytime. So I'm telling y'all, we will definitely have Ant-Man on the pod. I think it'll be a funny— If you can't watch Anthony Edwards interviews and get a good laugh, I mean, it is the most, it's like, it's raw. Like it's his true—

Yeah.

It's him just being his true self, which I think is beautiful. You get so, see so many people get in interviews and change their voice or change, you know, don't really speak how they speak. Like, man, Anthony Edwards, one of the best interviews in the NBA. I absolutely love watching his interviews. So definitely we'll have him on as a, as a guest of the pod. But for now, definitely my most exciting young player in the league.

I like that. I like that. From @warriorsgo or warriors_go, how many Defensive Player of the Year awards do you think you should have won?

I should have 3. I should definitely have 3. 2 for certain. But in my opinion, I think I should have at least, I should have 3. But it's cool. Let's get 1 more this year and then we 1 step closer to 3. But I'll always be 2 behind where I should be.

All right, let's do, From @youngxcve, do you miss playing in Oracle? How's the energy in Chase? Is it bringing the same sort of energy that you're used to from Oracle?

No, it does not bring the same energy as Oracle. Oracle was a different place, very special place, and a fan base that was built. Initially, when we first moved into this building, I'm like, This is just not the same. Like, it's, eh, like, I don't love it. And what I had to take a step back and realize is home environments are created. You know, like, home court advantages are created. They just don't happen just 'cause you're at home. Like, you create those things. And it took me to this year to really check myself and realize, like, no, we have to recreate what we created, what had been created at Oracle. Like Oracle's environment had been created. This environment has not been created. It's now starting to be created and it's starting to get louder. But it just doesn't like, oh, well you take that team from Oracle and moved them to Chase Center and it was as loud. You know, it's gonna be as loud as it was or louder in Chase Center than Oracle because it's the same team and blah. —don't work like that. You have to go recreate the environment. I think we're now doing a good job of recreating the environment now with some excitement, with an exciting team, with a good team. I think we're now starting to recreate that aura and that vibe in the arena. But it's not the same. No, no chance. Two totally different places. One very well-established home court and energy and— Yeah. One not so much that has to be established. And I think now we're doing a great job of that and it's start— and it's picking up now.

Let's do a couple more and then we'll wrap this mailbag up. First one we'll do, I like this one from @TJ_Savaro. When do you truly feel confident and comfortable playing with new young players slash teammates? What do they have to do in order to gain that trust from the core guys like you, Steph, Klay, Iggy, et cetera?

I think, I don't think there's one particular answer. I don't think there's one particular thing that can happen. And I don't think there's one particular thing that can happen and you're like, oh, I'm comfortable with that guy now. Like, I think it's an accumulation of things. And I think you start to realize those things over the course of time. You start to realize them in practice. You start to realize them in games. Different things in different games, right? Like, in order to be comfortable with somebody, like, you have to see them in different situations. Like, I can't— I can't bring someone to my house and say, hey man, like, whatever, whatever, whatever, we chop it up. And then now I'm going to take you to a foxhole and I'm supposed to have the same comfort with you in the foxhole than I did at my house? I've never seen you in this environment, you know? And so, the different environments that said game can produce or practice or whatever. Like, you have to see guys in different situations. And so I don't think there is one particular thing that can happen and you're like, oh man, I'm comfortable with that guy. No, you see that guy and you're like, okay, that's kind of a check off, you know, all right, you could check that off the list. Oh, I saw him in this, but you could check that off the list, you know? And then you kind of get to this space of like, all right, you know all these things that you appreciate or that you approve of or don't approve of. Now where does that leave you, right? Like this guy is great at all these things, these things over here, not so much. Do these things outweigh these to where you feel comfortable with that guy, you know, or that teammate or not? And I think that's kind of, what it boils down to. But I think the number one thing, and that's a non-negotiable, is you have to compete. Like regardless of what the situation is, that's a non-negotiable. And that's just the starting point. Like you have to compete. If you don't compete, we can't even begin to even think if I approve of you. That's the non-negotiable. You gotta compete.

All right, let's wrap it up here in the spirit of the, of the holidays from @bmckinney_12. Who is your biggest idol and how have they motivated you?

My biggest idol is my mother and my brother. My mother because she's motivated me to be who I am. Stay true to Draymond, be a leader, be who you are no matter what, speak your mind. And she's done that since I can remember. You know, that's, and so, My mom has always spoke her mind, whatever she believed in, regardless of what it may cost, how someone may feel, she speaks her mind. And I respect that. And so that has been a key part in me being who I am and staying true to Draymond and not altering who I am because of what people may think. And so I have to say my mother for that reason. And as hard as she worked to provide for us. And then my brother, my brother, because, you know, he's always been an incredible example. Super smart dude. I'm 6'6", my brother's 5'10", 5'11". Let him tell it, he's 6'1", 6'2". But I think he's, we'll give him 6 feet. But it never mattered. You know, in basketball it never mattered. His presence, it doesn't matter. Things that he was faced with through life and just watching how he overcame things. My brother had like this lump on his leg that they thought was tumors growing up and like he should never play basketball again. He should blah, blah, blah. Just to see him persevere through that as kids, always on time. Like a guy who taught me to be punctual. He's a very focused human being. When there's something that needs to be done, he's gonna get it done. And so I think for that reason, my brother, you know, just for those reasons, I should say, my brother. So yeah, I mean, those were, I grew up in a household with them. And so, you know, I didn't have to look far for the things that they gave me. And the things that they gave me are so vital in who I am that I can't, like that, it's irreplaceable. So my mother and my brother.

Mine's my mom too.

Respect that.

Shout out, shout out moms.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

I think that's a wrap on the mailbag. Thanks everyone for the questions. We'll do, we'll do another one. Yeah.

We will definitely do another one. We'll do another one. I mean, we may even get to the point to where we can do this thing like with some live questions coming in and that would be fire, you know? So We'll get there. But like Jackson said, we thank y'all for the questions. We thank y'all for tuning in. That's a wrap for this episode of the Draymond Green Show. We got the new year coming up. Everybody enjoy their new year. Stay safe. Enjoy your people. Make your New Year's resolution, but don't make it a New Year's resolution. Make it something that you want to do for yourself and something that you're going to dedicate yourself to Whatever, if it's a change or whatever it is, you have to dedicate yourself to that. Don't make it no New Year's resolution 'cause you're gonna break it in 2 days. Make it something that you're dedicating yourself to change or that you feel you need to be better at. Attack it. Don't even really use the New Year to do it. But if you want to and you like, that's when I'm turning my leaf, then that's when you turn your leaf. But whatever that is for you, lock in on it. Go after it, attack whatever it is. Happy '22. I love y'all. We'll talk soon. That's it for this episode of Draymond Green Show. Peace. Peace.