Draymond Green on Steph & Warriors EPIC showdown with Kawhi & Clippers + Nuggets fire Michael Malone

This is Game 7. Like, both teams trying to solidify that spot. This is definitely a Game 7 atmosphere. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show with my brother BD. How you feeling, my dog?

Man, I'm good, man. It's the end of the year. It's the end of the season. Birthday is always the last day of the year, so. You know, it's serendipitous because you dead tired, but if you can get over the hump, it's party time. How you feeling, big dog?

I'm feeling great, bro. You know, we got this last game. We obviously need to win this game. And like you said, then once you get to the playoffs, you kind of find a new boost of energy. It's kind of like a reset. And nowadays you get a week off.

That's crazy.

If you clinch top 6. So you kind of get that new boost. You got a couple ailments, let them heal a bit.

Yeah.

And kind of get back to it. But I feel great, man. We got an opportunity to control our own destiny, win on Sunday and get into the playoffs. And so I feel great about it. Still pissed off we smoked that game against San Antonio.

Yeah.

But nonetheless, we got a chance.

It's always one of them games you like, damn, dude, you just know that's gonna hurt. And it get down to the end of the season, be like, man, we coulda had this thing wrapped up.

Wrapped up already. Could've been chilling tomorrow. It's crazy, man. I look at some games in the last few weeks, like that one, the Miami game, the Atlanta game.

You start nitpicking.

Go back to this game.

I mean, dude, but that's the beauty of the game. It's almost like it's all set up that way.

Right.

At the end of the day, you gotta earn your worth in and you gotta earn your ticket in. And all them little losses or, you know, it's like, "Oh, we'd be all right." It's like, "Damn, dude, if we would've had one of them, if I get one of them back." Just one. Draymond Green.

Just one.

Another thing I like is the week off.

Yeah.

For the top 6 seeds, being able to rest, get your body right, watch your opponents. But you think about 4 and 5, they get a whole week to prepare for it, for what they know is gonna crack in 3 and 6, right?

Absolutely. 3 and 6 and 4 and 5. I always felt like 1 and 2, you're kind of at a disadvantage because— If you're the 1 seed, you're literally at the biggest disadvantage because you don't know who you play until 2 days before you play 'em. If you're the 7 seed, you've been sitting on your opponent for 4 days.

Yep.

If you're the 3 through 6 seed, you've been on your opponent for 6, 7 days.

Man.

And so I've always felt like number 1 was at a disadvantage anyway, like the biggest disadvantage, which is crazy. When you think about a playoff series, BD,— you figure games 1 and 2 is usually, call it within 3 to 5 days.

Yeah.

Like either from the end of game 1 to end of game 2, somewhere in there. You start getting to the 7-day mark. Oh, that's crazy. You're like on game 4.

Yeah.

And if you, you think about how much you know a team after game 4. But that's after now 7 days of studying this team.

Right.

If you're 3 through 6, you essentially are in game 4 in game 1 from a studying standpoint, from a scouting standpoint.

From a scout perspective.

I think that that's an extreme dis— I mean, advantage for 3 through 6 and disadvantage for 1 and 2 since the play-in tournament.

Although I think it's been great, I think that's one of the downsides of And on top of that, you know, you the 1 seed, you got home court advantage, you sitting there, you like, man, it's kind of like it don't even matter. And if you catch the wrong team at the wrong time that got the right momentum, you know, I think that's how we got Dallas. You know, you starting to see it more often now. Like Miami did it a couple times where they just, You catch a wave, you catch a wave. And so for the lower seed, you don't even care. You fighting for your life. So you got rhythm, you got playoff atmosphere under your belt. You're almost more prepared than a week of practice or the 2 days that they need to prepare for you, right?

That's a fact.

They coming off of 2 games, or maybe it's 3 games. It could be a game.

2-0.

Yeah, it's 2 games, playoff intensity, right? It's not the 1 seed, but they played y'all during the season anyway. So now they ready.

And in the West, that 8 seed this year can be real. Like that 8 seed this year can be a team that is gonna give OKC some trouble because it's a really good team. And you know, LKC is really good, but I'm just saying like, it won't be your typical 1-8 where you going in it.

Right.

And you just kind of like, oh yeah, we know this one's a wash. It'll be a tough, tough series. And so I think that can get interesting. People always talk about the, you know, the rest, you know, the work versus rest thing. You know, do you play versus rest? Do you play? Do you rest? Which one is better? You always have that debate going on. And now you gotta, you get to see it up close, you know, where you got a great 1 seed, gonna have a really good 8 seed. That 8 seed is gonna have had a couple playoff games under their belt rolling into the 1 seed that been chilling for a week. You know, OKC, I'm sure they'll probably take this last game off. So that week all of a sudden becomes 10, 11 days.

Man, and that's a lot.

That's a lot, and that's a lot of time off, you know, when you're accustomed to playing every other day. So I think that could get interesting.

You sharpening your tools, but you not practicing, it ain't no real intensity, right? So you just sitting around.

Mm-hmm.

Working out, trying to stay in shape while everybody else is preparing for somebody And then everybody else is fighting to get to you. I mean, I'm excited for these playoffs, man. I'm telling you, I'm super excited. This is the feeling I had as a kid in the '80s and the '90s, 2000s, you know, the Warrior-run era. I think basketball, people need to pay attention, man. It's cracking.

Yeah.

Every night. Y'all out there cracking. Yes, it is. Oh, it's cracking. And like, it's so much talent in the league and the intensity. And the level of play is really, it's on the rise, the competitiveness, the physicality, people really having rivalries, talking shit to each other. All this is gonna start percolating and people gonna see, oh, this era is real too.

You feel me? That's a fact. That's a fact. Speaking of rivalries, man, I loved the other day watching Ja and Ant play against each other in a high stakes game. Guard each other in a high stakes game. I told y'all a couple weeks ago, man, my favorite two young guys to take the trash talking throne is those two guys. And they went out there and guarded each other. Like, let's face it, Ja not fit to guard Ant. Like, and when I say not fit, like Ja—

He a little dude.

Ja small, man. Yeah, he a little dude. How you shake? He got the heart of a lion.

Yeah.

If you ever see Ja, he's small, like, which makes what he does even more impressive, which makes the weight that he carry even more impressive. 'Cause he, Ja ain't a big dude at all, man.

Yeah.

For him to even go out there and say, "No, I'mma take on the challenge and guard Ant," that to me just says something about his heart, about why he is who he is because that matchup ain't for him, man. On the flip side, Ant a big-ass dude. Like—

Right.

Ant, 6'5", 6'6", 220. Like, solid. And so just the size advantage in itself, like, that made it all the more impressive of even Ja going to guard him now. I think when you Ant-Man, what he has to look at next in his game is, all right, I gotta get off the ball now and maybe go get some post work. You know what I'm saying? He get in that post, he got Draymond Green get in that post, you can make it hard on Ja. Now in saying that, at a certain point in the game, Ja switched off and went and guarded somebody else because Scottie Pippen Jr. was doing a great job on Ant. You know what I'm saying? And so—

And he can defend.

He can. And he went and guarded Ant. But man, just the respect that I, I been had respect for both of them young fellas, but you can, I gained even more respect just watching them come out in that meaningful game. Talking about a rivalry. You had everybody praising Ja, he next up and he the next face of the league. And then, you know, he had his situation and now it's like he, you know, everybody threw him by the wayside. You had—

Yeah, he like the villain.

Yeah, you got young Ant-Man who like, I don't even want that. Like, I don't even want the face of the league, but it's that type of, that level of talent. And in a meaningful game for playoff standards, they guarded each other. So I respected that.

Is there a thing with this younger generation with not wanting to be the face, more so wanna be the villain and take on a villain persona? I was thinking about that the other day. When Ant said that, like Ant don't wanna be like a hero, like, "Oh, I'm Superman, you know, I'm the great American cover boy." I think he wants to be the villain, right? I think Ja, as he starts to embrace, "I'm the villain," he starts to fill out his personality on the court and his brand on the court. But I think these young dudes, they like being the villain. And I think they wanna find who's the target. Like who's the number one target guy outside of, I mean, you think like a Wimby, like they don't wanna be that. They wanna be like this, they wanna be the villains, like the upset guy, the shit talker, right?

I just think for them it's more like they'd rather be the people's champs.

Right.

But you look at where they both come from, It makes sense. You know what I'm saying? Like, they'd rather be the people's champs. And listen, I get it. I respect it. To each his own. I hate the whole conversation of face of the league as if like the league just say, "Okay, it's you now. Here you go." Like, I hate that whole thing. But now that I got that out, when you speak on being the face of the NBA, there's just so much that comes with that.— in the day and age that we live in, there's even more that comes with that today than it did 15 years ago. Like by a long shot, you know, just your life in general, there's just so much more that comes with it. And so you gotta think, man, most of these dudes, they're young, they love video games, they love—

Yeah.

They play basketball, they play video games. And the generation that they come from, anything that takes you away from that, they don't really want it.

Like— Right.

That's just the generation we're living in where streaming, it's video games, it's, you know, that is the generation that we keep speaking of on Facing the NBA. Like that's where we are as far as age goes. Like when I look at KD, I don't think KD ever wanted to be the face of the league. But guess what? KD is more that generation of Draymond Green when it comes to video games and like, K wanna play basketball and play video games and not do much else. That is this generation though now, guys, to the extreme.

Yeah, man.

And so I think, you know, no one talks about that side of it. It's like the life side of it. Like how your life looks on a day-to-day basis and why some of these guys don't want that. But you look at the guys who do want it. Wimby is more old school. Like, if you listen to anybody talk about— I talked to CP after we played him in San Antonio about Wimby. Like, if you talk to anybody about— he read a book every day. Like, he's more old school. Jason Tatum is more old school, you know what I'm saying? Jason Tatum isn't like— he's more of an older soul. Those are the guys that want it though, you know what I'm saying? But they don't Their lives are different than say a Ja or Ant, you know, or most of these young guys. Like JT got a couple kids, you know what I'm saying? His life is a little different where he don't play a bunch of video games. Like I think there's a philosophical difference that everybody's not talking about. Everybody's just looking at it through one lens, which is basketball.

Yep. And then you have Jaylen Brown, right? Who's a little different. Who wants it, but is also, you know, not a media darling, right? So, you know, the media wants a great superhero, right? But the people always love a good villain.

Absolutely.

That's the persona that even the face of the NBA has to have. They have, everybody thinks that they're a villain. Everybody wants to be the disruptor. The underdog, and you have to have that mentality. And I think, you know, that's what is required. It's the culture.

Mm-hmm.

It's the culture. They're a part of the culture. They're a part of hip-hop. They're a part of what's trending. They're a part of social media. You know, when you look at somebody like Ja Morant, right? And the celebrations, he's not that person. That is just, what the culture is, right? Football players do it, you know, kids do it. But at the same time, there is a great responsibility to know what you doing. But from that villain persona, I think the league, you need that controversy. But it's not that these guys are like that, like bad guys, right? Mm-hmm.

No, that's a fact. They're not bad guys at all. Number one, you don't reach the level of success that they've reached just being bad guys. Bad guys. Like, it's hard in this day and age between social media, all these different things, to be a bad guy and kind of reach this point, you know? So they're not bad guys, uh, they're successful Black men.

Yes.

Um, you know, like, people go at you so much that, like, you almost get a villain mindset anyways just because, like, you're subject to people going at you 24/7. 24/7 to where you kind of have to almost like take on that just to push through it, you know what I'm saying? Like, you're not gonna keep just coming at me like that way. And so, you know, even in Ja, you know, with his new celebration, which to me looked like—

Hilarious. Hey bro, that is hysterical. But you know, he probably play Call of Duty, you know, he probably be on Call of Duty Like you said, they gaming, they on Call of Duty, they got all the answers.

You know what I'm saying? That man said, but I'm taking my words, I'm taking my words, I'm throwing them out there and then I'm blocking out the noise. Listen, I respect it, Jah. Do what you gotta do, brother. If you just throwing your words out there and blocking out the noise, what they gonna say?

They can't say nothing.

I don't hear it. They can't tell you, you can't throw your words out there and not listen to anybody, Doc.

That was the sickest bar ever. Oh, that's real player right there.

Gotta give it to him on that one. That's real player right there, Playboy.

What else is cracking around the league? The firing of Coach Mike Malone. What was your reaction to it?

I had a few different reactions. Number one, Coach Mo is my guy. I love Coach Mo. I text Josh Cronkie before, many years ago. And I text Josh and it was around the time where they were kind of like, you could tell they was starting to turn that corner but not quite there yet, looking to turn the corner. And around that time it was like noise. Like, do Denver continue forward with Mike Malone? And they had a quick playoff exit, I think. And I text Josh and I said, "Don't be fooled by the noise. I think Mike Malone is your guy. Like, I think y'all got y'all guy." And sure enough, they end up winning a championship with their guy. And so my hunch was right. When I look at him being fired though, you hear the reports of like people tired of his voice, they're tired of his hard coaching, these types of things. I'm sorry to say, but unfortunately that's why people don't win. Because you get tired of hearing the voice that led you to being a winner. I will say, as someone who could be the voice that people get tired of at times, that's helping lead you to winning, I get why you can get tired of it. You know, I used to— I totally understand. It ain't even that you're not used to it. It's that one thing that I know as a leader is I know people probably get tired of my voice at times. I'm not surprised that you get tired of my voice. Quite frankly, I don't give a shit whether you get tired of my voice or not because I know what it takes to lead to winning. And so to hear people say it coming out like, "Oh yeah, they were getting tired of Mike Malone's hard style." Like it makes complete sense to me.

Yeah.

It makes complete sense to me. Yeah. Like people, but even aside from being a player, BD, people get tired of being pushed. That's what it is. People get tired of being pushed, which is why people don't win over and over and over again, which is why only a select few of people win because people get tired of being pushed. And so I heard that and it made complete sense to me. You know, another thing I heard that bothered me is people trying to put it on Russell Westbrook. Stop it.

Oh yeah, y'all need to stop the cap. That's crazy.

Russell Westbrook make $3 million this year. You gonna tell me anything to do with a coach is the man that make 3— if they— if Russell Westbrook a problem, they $3 million they pay him, they can send him home. Pay, go home. We don't even want you around here. Like, to try to make this about Russell Westbrook, it's insane to me.

Man, that's crazy. I think the whole thing with Denver is they just got fatigued, right? You won a championship, you start eating the food, you start tasting more food as you were cooking. So now you start removing some of your ingredients, meaning Bruce Brown, right? You start removing some of the KCP, you start removing and let go some key ingredients, and it's hard to do that It's hard to replace that in the draft and groom that in young people and then try and get that in free agency. So what is missing is always going to be the main subject.

Yeah.

And you can see last year they got fatigue, right? They're just getting fatigued.

Yeah.

And so the run that they went on to win the championship was a crazy run, When you play, what coach was pushing you every day, right? When the Warriors, when y'all was winning, you know how to motivate yourself. Your voice may be annoying or dudes may get pissed off at times, but when you winning, you know you need that. Now for a coach, you gotta understand there's a time to push these dudes, how to push these dudes, Where are we pushing to, right? Because when you talking about your voice as a coach and you keep pushing, you keep pushing, at some point your player's gonna be like, yo, I had enough. I know what I'm doing.

But who's the player in they locker room, BD, that's doing that? Jokic don't talk much. Like, Jamal Murray don't talk much. So who's the player on that team that's doing that though? Or does the coach have to do it because they don't have a player? So you got Russell Westbrook, right?

I think they fired the GM and they fired to coach because they, they, they weaken the batter, bro.

What I'm saying, you got Russell Westbrook who's that type of player, but I already know the type of vibe he gonna come in on because that team won a championship before.

Yeah.

Russ gonna come in like, all right, maybe I'm gonna take a backseat here. I'm not gonna do that there. I'm not the main guy here. And so although you could get that demeanor from Russell Westbrook, you're only gonna get doses of it because Somewhere there's probably a little self-consciousness of like, they won a championship before, I ain't gonna come in and press too much, you know? And so you may have to—

They just not the same team.

They not the same team. But that's what happens when you start plucking key pieces to championships away.

Exactly, exactly.

Like you just said, and trying to do it in the draft. Like that's a very tough thing to do, to say, The GM was mad that Russell Westbrook's playing over Jalen Pickett, like—

That's crazy.

That's what happens, right?

That's ridiculous. Yeah, but that's, stuff like that start happen, happening because everybody wants to experiment, right? Everybody got an opinion. You've weakened the foundation by letting your key ingredients go. The Warriors was smart about, Man, we gonna hold the whole thing together and add maybe one or two guys in free agency, get a draft, and then they, you know who there for a year, you know who you need to build a foundation. You got a bad mix of veteran guys and young guys.

Mm-hmm.

And you have nothing in the middle that those veteran free agents that you needed and needed to keep and sign, you didn't have them as your glue. So you really missing the glue. So when you look at Russ, Russ is a glue person, but he's not a glue person, right?

Yeah.

He's a complimentary piece and he's added value, right, to a team. But where do you fit if you not a glue guy? 'Cause with the young dudes, they play a different style than the way Joker wanna play or how Aaron Gordon, Joker, and Porter, how all those dudes, Jamal Murray, work together. They need KCP in that position. Then you need Russ coming in, working with the young dudes. So everybody is out of predicament. And that's why you fire the GM. That's why I think the coach got fired because you can't be experimenting and trying to win the championship because you came off a championship 2 years ago. So— Yeah. You know, it's like trying to find an identity with no identity. But that's, I also think that's why Joker is having a hell of a year.

Because the team isn't as strong?

Because the team isn't as strong.

He has to do more?

He has to do a lot more. Whereas before, Michael Porter can beat you, Aaron Gordon can beat you. Now those are knights. They have a hot night, but even Jamal Murray, like, as talented as he is, it's almost like, I mean, and he has been getting injured, but he ain't, he has not taken it to that next echelon of where his talent was supposed to go, what we saw in the finals. And that's because you lost your key ingredients.

It's hard to lose key ingredients on championship team and think you can just replace 'em. It don't work like that, that's for sure.— But a lot of people also spoke about like Reggie Jackson being like, they lost a lot. They lost pretty much their entire bench.

You lose part of your team. But don't you think that's your personality too? Right? 'Cause you played on all these championship teams. A lot of these dudes, would you say like, man, I need, that's my guy. I need him even though he don't play. The personality, right?

Sometimes you keep a guy, you keep guys around And they may not play at all. Like literally could be 14th, 15th man. And you tell them Bob, like, or Mike now, like, yo, no, we need to keep that guy.

Yeah.

Like we just need that guy on the team. Like for the vibe, for something they bring. It ain't always about what this guy gonna give us in those minutes. Like, and by the way, it's the NBA, everybody can play. So it ain't like we saying keep somebody who should be, playing somewhere else. Like they, it's an NBA player, but we need you to keep this guy for this reason. Like that, like it ain't always just about basketball. The makeup of that team, the vibes, like we go to dinners and like keep the vibe right amongst the team. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. It could be like, yo, in the locker room, this dude always make us laugh and we be needing that when you down and like, It could be anything. It ain't just always that in those couple spots, it ain't just always about necessarily the production on the court.

Right. It's the energy. It's that energy.

1000%.

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All right, man, let's get into some Dub Nation stuff. I know they wanna hear about this last game, right? The intensity of the playoffs. Before we talk about the final game of the season, I wanna talk about how would you describe the journey that has brought the team to this point? 23-6 since Jimmy joined the team. Game 82 is coming up. Talk about the journey. Of this team this year? And then where are you guys at coming into game 82 with a lot on the line at home versus the Clippers? You know, the two hottest teams to me in the West.

Definitely both playing great basketball. I think for this team, when I look back on this year, as you know, it's crazy because somebody asked me yesterday or two days ago, they like, man, I'm like, "Hey man, we got 2 more games." And he was like, "Man, do it go by fast?" And I said, "Not when you in it." And when you in it, it feel like them days stacking on top of your head fast. Like piling up. You like, "Golly." Game 45 in Indianapolis and it's freezing cold and snowing. You like, "Oh my God." I said, but then you get to the end of it and you look back like, hey, that flew by. You know, but when you going through it, it don't feel like it's flying by. It's slow. Said, in saying that though, this year has been crazy. Like when I look at this year, it's been a little all over the place. Like we started off great, having an incredible year, got off to a great start, and then we kind of just couldn't find it. Like we lost it and couldn't find it, but it felt like we were right there. And then obviously we make the trade at the deadline for Jimmy. And kind of what we thought all along was like, man, it just felt like we're missing one piece. Like, but we're right there. And then getting Jimmy, like I said at All-Star, when I said, yo, I think, when I said we're gonna win the championship, I said that because I was like, oh yo, like this is the piece that I felt like we were missing. And we already wanted to shoot for a championship anyway. Now we got the piece. And so that's kind of been a year, like started off great, awful. And you know, we, we picked it back up, but it's been an incredible year and they coming down to game 82. Like you said, I think you always look back on some of those ones you gave away, like, man, if we had that one. But in saying that, You know, this is a tough challenge for us. It's a really good playoff team. They thriving at the right time. We thriving at the right time. Two great coaches, two incredible Hall of Fame coaches. Like, what can you ask for as, as an NBA fan? Not as an NBA player, as an NBA fan. I'm excited. As a player, obviously this is what you live for.

I mean, Clipper-Warrior rivalry, you know, I've been a part of that. I think I was the reason why it started, to be honest. [LAUGHTER] The Warrior-Clippers rivalry, I was probably the reason why that whole little thing shook out. You know, I've been coming to the games, playoff games, and to me, you two are the teams, the most complete team, veteran-oriented, This is gonna be a great matchup. You played in Game 7s, right? I feel like this is gonna be that type of vibe.

100%. Like, this is Game 7. Like, both teams trying to solidify that spot. This is definitely a Game 7 atmosphere. You gotta make those adjustments fast. You got one shot at it, one crack at it. So I'm looking forward to it. I'll tell you what though, Somebody from the Warriors, man. We gotta get BD on for the Warriors as an ambassador so he can stop talking this Clipper stuff sometimes. You know what I'm saying? Like Raymond Ritter, whoever I need to talk to. Brandon Snyder. Come on. Make y'all leave me. Come on now, Mike. Come on now.

Full sprint.

It's done.

All right.

We gonna just put that out there. I can't, since it's a little, I feel this, y'all ain't feeling this energy I'm feeling right now. But I'm feeling this energy on BD, feeling like, you know, he like, he don't know where he really wanna go, where he's supposed to go. And I know where he's supposed to go. So I'm telling y'all now, let's fix this. Let's make this right.

Let's make it right.

All right, now.

I appreciate that, Draymond Green. Spoken about the true king himself. Nah, but you got Kawhi playing well, you gonna have to guard him. You got Zubac up for Defensive Player of the Year, came on strong. They're 3-0 against you this season. What would a win on Sunday mean going into those playoffs?

It'd be huge, huge for the confidence, but huge just to solidify that spot, get that week off, rest up, know who our opponent is. You know, showdown with the Lakers, Bron and Steph. We know how that whole thing has been for the last 10 years. Like, man, it'd be huge for everybody. But I think, you know, for myself and our team, like, you know, a team beat you 3 times, come out and take care of business. You know what I'm saying?

Yep.

You know, so I think this is a big opportunity for us. This is a new team for us.

Yeah. One of those games, one of those games you and Steph didn't play though. I remember that. How was that thing?

Steph and I didn't play, but you know, then they made some additions. Bogdanovich was a big addition for them. Ben Simmons is playing minutes for them, you know, get him some versatility. So, then the biggest addition is getting Kawhi Leonard back. You know, he's, he look, he almost look better than before he got hurt.

Man, that's crazy.

He is bouncing back.

The way he come back, bro. The way he come back from an injury is like, Like he stay at a level.

This dude is Bionic Man or something. Yeah man, this dude's like Bionic Man. Like he just come back. Like bro, you just came off of ACL surgery. This man just like, yo.

Man, like he never left.

What is this, man? I don't understand it. Every time he come back from injury, it look like Kawhi Leonard in San Antonio, Kawhi Leonard in Toronto Raptors, and I just don't understand it. That's the biggest addition of all of them. Like obviously getting him back is huge. Zubac is playing even better than he was playing at the beginning of the year. And he was playing at a very high level in the beginning of the year. So team's playing great. But also I think, you know, we know who we are now. You know, we have our identity and we ready to go. So be a great matchup.

This could be the Western Conference Finals matchup. This could determine the Western Conference Finals in a major way.

Yes, it can be.

As we start to wrap up the season and talk about the end of the season, we got of course, who you got into the season awards. First up, we talked about this MVP, SGA, Joker, or co-MVPs. What do you think?

I would love to see co-MVPs. I would love to see these voters all 100 of them call each other, tally up y'all votes so these guys can tie, because I think it's incredible. And saying that, uh, we have to pick one or the other, I have to guard Joker. I know how tough that is. It's extremely tough. I've seen people get fatigued off of greatness over and over again. LeBron James only has 4 MVP trophies. That's LeBron James was the MVP way more than 4 times in the NBA. So because people has done that, keep that same energy. What's been a big deal is being the best player on the best team. And not only is Shay the best player on the best team, but he's playing at such an elite level. It ain't like he the best player on a, on a even team and like he a little better. Right. He's like, he is one of the best players in the NBA and has taken that team higher. And so in saying that, just with what MVP has meant, with what the MVP has done. I think it's gonna look crazy in 10 years. You put those numbers next to each other and be like, Jokic didn't win. But in saying that, I gotta go with SGA.

Got you, SGA. To your point, defensive presence underrated this year still.

Absolutely.

Joker, the first center to average a triple-double.— and for an entire series— season, I mean. I like to see co-MVPs just so when we go back to history, people can go back and see the type of year that both of these players were having and how they were going back and forth in this climb for the MVP race. But if I have to side a vote, I would side for SGA, 'cause I watched this man play defense, I watched him lead his team, and to your point, he is just— Mm-hmm. On a high, high level of frequency. And he's pulled a lot of these talented guys on this team up to his level, right? Yes, he did. Playing at a level above.

I think one of the most underrated things about the year SGA had is they spent an extended period of time this year with no center.

They had—

Hardenstein was out, Chet was out, and Jalen, the bigger Jalen Williams was out. They were out there running 5 guards and still winning games.

That's crazy.

That is extremely impressive. And I just think another thing that kind of gives SGA the boost. Even when things weren't ideal, he still found a way to lead his teams to win. And I think, you know, that says a lot.

I agree. I totally agree.

Most improved player. Who you got for most improved?

Dyson Daniels, Austin Reeves, Uh, I would say Austin Reeves.

A lot of people saying Cade Cunningham.

Well, Cade Cunningham is too good, and he was so good last year that he's too good to be most improved. We expect that right out of Cade, and Cade expect that out of himself, and he's just living into his magic. He got the All-Star accolades, and so what's next for him is consistent all-stars. When you look at somebody like a Dyson Daniels coming out the G League and coming outta nowhere to make a name for himself. Then you look at an Austin Reeves, who was he a second round pick or undrafted?

Undrafted.

I think he was undrafted, right? Making a name for himself to stay on the Lakers to then being a fan favorite off the bench. Now being a bona fide NBA star. He has, he's real. And he became a real household name and somebody you gotta recognize this year. And went from 15 to 20 points a game with LeBron, with Luka still in the mix. So I would give it to Austin Reeves.

And when it wasn't Luka, AD. It was a— AD, and he was cracking with AD, yeah. Absolutely. I gotta go with Austin Reeves as well. I think Dyson Daniels is right there. Kay Cunningham, no chance. Like you said, Kay's way too good. He been way too good for this award.

And shout out to Dyson Daniels for making a name for himself. The work he put in, like he making Atlanta have somebody else to talk about. Besides what Draymond Green is doing.

Absolutely. I think, but when I look at Austin Reeves, he's been arguably the best third option in, in, in basketball. And when called upon and, and presented the opportunity, he's been an incredible two.

Yeah.

Uh, when called upon. And so I think to go from undrafted to that, 15 points to 20 points, there's a big difference in the NBA of averaging 15 points to 20 points. Like, You may look at that and be like, oh, that's only 5 points. A 15-point-a-night guy off night is 6.

Yes.

A 20-point-a-night guy off night is 16.

Yep. 15, 16.

To put into perspective for you, the jump that Austin Reeves has made, to jump your average from 15 points to 20 points, that is the, that's also the difference in like someone making $15 million a year and someone making, $35 million a year. Like, it— that is a drastic jump. And obviously we know he can pass the ball too. He rebounds the ball. I think, uh, I, I, I gotta go with Austin Reeves. Uh, like you said, shout out to Dyson Daniels. I think what he's done is incredible. Uh, to see him playing at the level he playing at is great, but I gotta go with Austin Reeves.

You got—

And I did not know JJ Redick was campaigning for Austin Reeves when he said the, the awards. Is the high pick award that was on lottery pick. What'd he say? Lottery pick that's now on a high contract that finally had—

Yeah, it was a campaign.

Something of that nature. It was a campaign. I didn't realize it, JJ, you slid that one in, but you got a point, my brother.

He definitely made people think about the vote. Rookie of the Year, easy.

Stephon Castle, no question.

Stephon Castle.

No question.

Love that kid. He next up.

No question. Stephon Castle, easy. We gonna look back at this. Stephon Castle is gonna be a star. And of course he should have won Rookie of the Year. He gonna be next to Wimby in San Antonio dynamic duo, back-to-back Rookie of the Years. And it's all gonna make sense. But Stephon Castle, no question. His rookie of the year. And I'm gonna tell you this, Stephon Castle, when he improves that jump shot, and I say when, because I know he will because he's a willing shooter.

Next year.

One of the biggest keys about being, learning to shoot the ball with consistency is being a willing shooter. And he is willing, no matter how many he miss in a row, he raising up, taking that next one. And I love that attitude. That kid is gonna be a star. I'm looking forward to a Rookie of the Year. Congrats, young fella. It should be yours in the bag. We got Coach of the Year. Some say Kenny Atkinson. The Cavs were 48-34 in '23-'24. They increased that to 63 wins, possibly 64. Number 1 seed in the East. You got Ime Udoka, 41-41 last season, number 11 in the Western Conference standings. Fast forward to 2025, they have 52 wins, could be 53, could have been 55. They've kind of bombed the last couple games. Like nonetheless, Ime Udoka has to be in the running. And then JB Bickerstaff, 14 wins to 44 wins.

Damn.

First season of coaching this team. He was the coach of the team that the Cavs, who Kenny Atkinson has now bumped up 15 wins to 63. Who you got? Those 3 guys, Coach of the Year.

Is this Kenny Atkinson's first year with the Cavs?

This is Kenny Atkinson's first year. He was with the Dubs last year.

That's crazy. And is J.B. Bickerstaff's first year with Detroit?

This is his first year.

Oh, this is a hell of a storyline. And what I would do is I would honor them both. This would be a co-Coach of the Year. You gotta do co-Coach of the Year. Like, I would give two awards out, 'cause it's just, if it has to be one person, cool, but I don't think it should just be one guy.

Emei Udoka went from 11th to 2nd.

That's crazy too. Give 'em all an award.

No, but you can't do that.

Give 'em all an award. You cannot do that.

I agree.

They're all deserving.

They're all deserving. But you cannot do that.

I mean, damn, that's too hard. If I'm voting, I don't know. That's too tough, dude. That's tough. They all matter. Like what JB did, taking Detroit from nothing to something, to a playoff team. What Ime did from last year, taking them to the 2 seed, showing a lot of promise. You know, people thought that Houston would have a team that's gonna be in the playoffs. So, you know, he overexceeded expectations. And then Kenny Atkinson came in and took over a job from a team and, you know, damn near got them 20 more wins than what they had the year before and a number 1 seed in the East. So if I have to give the award, I will probably— it probably should go to Kenny Atkinson. Draymond Yeah. Green, um, with JB at a very, very close second, almost a tie, and Ime at a very, very close second.

I respect that. I think, um, I think when you look at the system that Kenny has brought to that team, like, they had talent already and he took that same talent and has turned that talent into what it should be. I think it's hard not to go with Kenny. I also think he turned Evan Mobley into a star. And when I say turned Evan Mobley into a star, understand that I'm not saying Kenny Atkinson turned— Evan Mobley has worked his ass off to become who he's become.

He unleashed the star.

He put him in position to reach who he's supposed to become, which is a star in the NBA. And Evan Mobley's had an incredible year on both sides of the ball. Um, yeah, he will be an All-NBA performer. Evan Mobley, I think when you look at getting Darius Garland back to All-Star form, like Darius Garland was the lost man last year. Like Darius Garland was on his way outta Cleveland. It was all going wrong. It looked like he had popped for a year or two and it was going the wrong way. Kenny comes in. Kenny. Push that confidence back into him, put him in a system where he can thrive in. And so I think when you're looking at that, on top of winning 64 games, I gotta go with Kenny Atkinson. I think that's, JB's incredible to go from 14 to 44 wins. I think it's incredible. Ime to go from 11, I'm a big fan of Ime. Just the attitude that Ime give his teams is crazy. Played against him in the NBA Finals. He's going to Houston and taking a joke of a team after James Harden to the second seed in the West. Brought an attitude, stepped up and said the guys that he wanted. Bringing in Fred VanVleet as a free agent was huge, you know what I'm saying? Like bringing in a veteran presence like Jeff Green was huge, you know? And these are all things that Ime Udoka's pointing out and saying, no, I need this. And so bringing in Dillon Brooks, free agency, You know, people was off Dylan Brooks, Grizzlies off Dylan Brooks. He like, yo, bring him over here. Huge, you know what I'm saying? So what Ime's done has been incredible. And I think he right up there and deserving, but I think I gotta go with Kenny Atkinson on this one as well.

Awesome.

Sixth Man of the Year.

Oh, Peyton Pritchard, that's easy.

We got Sixth Man of the Year. You got Peyton Pritchard or Malik Beasley?

I got Peyton Pritchard, that's easy, man. The way he has improved. I'd have put Payton Pritchard up there also for most improved just to put him in that category. But talking about energy, you know, fire and a difference maker for Boston off the bench and another leader, they found another leader, they found another go-to guy, which is crazy. And then not to discount what the season that Malik Beasley has had because he's been another part of that Piston team, that 44, that 14 to 44 win turnaround. And he's been a great compliment and reliable source for Cade Cunningham. And so 312 threes this season, a Piston record. Shout out to Malik Beasley. But when we talking about sixth man and a difference maker and a game changer, somebody's coming in and change the game, I gotta go to pay with Peyton Pritchard. Yeah.

I think Peyton Pritchard's been incredible. He increased his points from 9 to 14, which is a big jump.

'Cause he ain't 6.

You know, I think he's had a great year. 251 made threes. Great year on a great team. Won 60 games. But I gotta go Malik Beasley on this one. Malik Beasley has found a new home. 312 threes this season. I think both of these guys shoot threes. Malik Beasley's averaging 16 points off the bench. So he's winning in both of those categories and their team is winning. I think when you can look at record, but obviously Boston's gonna have a much better record than Detroit. They have a much better team than Detroit. But I gotta go with Malik Beasley on this one. Hit your three, hit your shimmy player, your hip dance or whatever it is. But I think Malik Beasley is deserving. I think he should get it. I think he's earned it. That's who I'm rolling with. Draymond Green.

There it is. All right, last but not least, Defensive Player of the Year. I will give you the floor because you know where my vote is going. What do you wanna say about Defensive Player of the Year? It's your last one.

Oh man, I think put it in the bag.

Right.

That's what I think. Put it in the bag.

Yours truly.

Yours truly. That's who I'm rocking with. Yours truly. Listen, I think Evan Mobley has had a great year. Dyson Daniels has had a great year. I think, you know, Zubac has had a great year. I think, you know, all those guys have had a great year. I ain't taking nothing away from them, and I see them on first team all defense, but I think DPOY should go to yours truly. I'll take that.

Yeah, I gotta rock with you, bro. You've been, you know, we talk about the season, the solid, consistent, And you just been a terror. You've had amazing moments. When you look at team defense and team awareness and having that anchor, I mean, you're the guy. And look at the Warrior numbers. So shout out to you. You my pick. You been my pick all year, man. Let's lock in. Let's go, Dub Nation. Let's go. Yeah, this is it. This is the last season of the game, baby. The last game of the season.

Yes, sir.

Let's get that defensive. Yeah, one more, one more defensive showcase and let's put that trophy in the bag.

Come on now, I appreciate you, my dog. I hope so. But nonetheless, let's get this win tomorrow.

We need it. Let's do it. You know what I'm saying?

Get in these playoffs. That is a wrap from this episode of the Draymond Green Show and the last show of the regular season of 2025 for all you guys out there. In this NBA. For all you trainers out there, coaches out there, um, front office workers, community relations, public relations, NBA league office, NBA PA, referees, everybody, job well done. It's a well-oiled machine that continues to get better. Adam Silver, everybody who had a hand in making this season what it is. Job well done. Let's make these playoffs great. Keep it pushing. Till next time, that's a wrap from this episode of the Draymond Green Show with the legend Baron Davis, BD, my dog.

We out.

And don't forget to follow us on all social media @TheDraymondShow. And we out.