Draymond Green on Warriors/Nets + Mel Tucker interview | The Draymond Green Show

What's up, everybody? Welcome to the first episode of the Draymond Green Show. I am super excited to bring this to you guys, to bring my raw, unfiltered self and let you guys see a different side of me that you may not always see. Get to know more of me, more about me than you may know. I know most people think when you think of Draymond Green, You know, you think of this hard-nosed, tough-playing guy that plays basketball, that may talk a lot of shit, get a few technicals here and there. But newsflash, I'm a little more interested and a little deeper than that. So this will be fun. There'll be a lot of fun segments. You will have some very interesting people coming onto the show, whether it's basketball players, football players, Maybe some football coaches, some basketball coaches, possibly some GMs, but there will be some venture capitalists, some CEOs. We'll go all over the map. So this podcast will be for you. And no, not just you, the basketball fan. It will be for you who likes interesting people, who likes interesting conversations, and most importantly, just wanna learn new things and have fun. Yeah. This week, my guest will be coach of Michigan State Spartans football team, Coach Mel Tucker. I am extremely excited about having Coach Tucker on the show. Obviously my Spartans are rolling. Coach Tucker's come in, he's taken our program back to where it need to be and also to new heights. So I'm excited about that. And of course I'd be remiss if I didn't talk last night's game, the Golden State Warriors versus the Brooklyn Nets. Hell of a game, hell of an atmosphere. Super fun, man. You know, somebody the other day was trying to build this game up. It's like, man, this is y'all first game playing KD under normal circumstances. Like, get the hell outta here, man. Like, is this the new storyline now? It's normal circumstances. Last year, it was KD's first time back to the Bay, but there were no fans.

Yeah.

So it's always some buildup, but nonetheless, when you're playing against a brother, a guy who has shared in the successes that we've had as an organization, a guy who was as important as anybody in our quest to 2 championships, should have been 3, but things happen and that is what it is. But to take the court, and play against Kevin, who's one of the greatest players to ever pick up a basketball. To take the court alongside Steph Curry, who's one of the greatest players to pick up a basketball. James Harden, one of the greatest players to dribble a basketball. And then myself, as you know, the greatest defender to grace a basketball court. It was fun. It was a lot of fun. And obviously we got the win. I thought, interesting enough, I thought we could have done a lot of things better. I thought we had 22 turnovers. We could have done that a lot better. We put those guys on the foul line a lot, especially in the first half. First quarter, I think they shot 11 free throws. And our goal is to keep teams at 20 or below. So we're already over halfway there through the first quarter. You got James getting into the tee for our defense, getting fouled. Kevin's always tough to guard. And then Bruce Brown was getting off. And one thing we said at halftime is James Harden is going to get off. Kevin Durant's going to do what he does. That's just the nature of the game we play. When you have a great scorer, it's hard to just completely shut those guys down. Now you can, you have your nights and you can also make them take tough shots, but just to lock those guys down, It's tough to do. We had James with 16 points at half. No, Kevin was 16 and a half, James with 14. And then we had Bruce Brown with 14. And those are the ones you can't survive. So outta there, what, 58 points they had at halftime, that's 3 guys with 44 of them. Like, so we needed to take Bruce Brown outta the game. And coming out in that second half, we did that. We took Bruce Brown out the game. And then we also were able to make it tough on James and Kevin, which isn't always possible. But our defense has been incredible. I think our defense has been great all year. It's the reason we had the number 1 defense in the NBA. It's the reason we are 12-2 because our team is built on our defense. And that really showed up there in that third quarter last night. And you know, we went on a run to start the quarter. We went up 13 points. Then we end up with Wiggins and Steph with 4 fouls.

And—

The game could have shifted there. I think that was kind of the moment where everybody's like, oh man, you got Wiggins off the court, you got Steph off the court, they're up 13 points, here comes Brooklyn run. And it went the opposite way. I think we took that 13-point lead and made it a 22-point lead. And it was great. I thought Looney's defense was incredible during that stretch. Gary Payton's defense was incredible during that stretch. My goal was to anchor our defense and try to be incredible during that stretch. I was able to make Kevin take some tough shots. D. Lee was all over the court during that stretch. And Jordan Poole was active on the defensive end, but even more importantly, we ran our offense through him with Stephon Wiggins out. That was important. And it's very important for a young guy who's just kind of coming into his own, who that's really his, like, one of few big games that he's played in, in the NBA, due to the lack of success we've seen over the past 2 years, he stepped up in that moment. He took great shots, didn't make all of 'em, which is basketball and it happens, but he took great shots. We were able to get good things on the offensive end and we were able to take our lead to 22 points. And that was kind of, that was kind of it. I don't think their guys came back in after that point. Or maybe they were, they had a few guys in to start the fourth quarter and then they kind of pulled the plug at the 9-minute mark. And I was shocked because, you know, when you have a scorer like Kevin Durant, a scorer like James Harden, I personally feel like you always have a chance. And so I was a little shocked, but yet in understanding the landscape of the NBA, they have a rolling Cleveland team coming in today.

Yeah.

And you're down 22 points, you expend a ton of energy in that fourth quarter trying to make a comeback. What if you fall short? If you do fall short and you have a, a tough, young, confident Cleveland team coming in the next day and you're running on fumes, now you're risking losing two games. And so I definitely do understand the logic behind Steve Nash, the consultant.

Mm-hmm.

Who's now the head coach, pulling the plug and just moving on to the next day. 'Cause you know, that's the NBA. You got 82 games, every game won't be your day. I mean, obviously being on a team that was 73-9, it may feel like every day was our day. And yet there were still 9 times that it wasn't. And maybe another 10 times that we just were able to squeak games out, not more. And so every day won't be your day. So I do understand Steve Nash pulling the plug and just moving on to the next day, which is today. And those guys take on a young, hungry Cleveland team that we actually take on tomorrow in the back-to-back in Cleveland. So it was an incredible game. I was really proud of the way our guys stepped up in that moment. That was, you know, a lot of people been talking a ton of shit like, oh, their schedule's weak and they haven't played anybody and that's why their record is this and that. And you know, I thought that was much of a statement game as a regular season game can be. You know, no statements are truly made in the regular season because none of the shit matters once you get to the playoffs. But if there was a statement game or if there is a such thing as a statement game in the regular season, I thought that was one just because of the noise surrounding coming here to Brooklyn, playing against Kevin and James, which is always tough. Young team coming off a loss, coming from Charlotte and having to bounce back from that, starting a road trip with a loss. I thought it was really, really, really a huge step in the right direction for our young team. I wouldn't say we're that young. It's kind of a mixture of old and young. But I also thought we could have played a lot better, which is encouraging because in order, you know, to beat one of the best teams in the NBA with two of the best players in the NBA in such, you know, such a young point of the season for us coming on the road. I thought it was a big deal, but the encouraging part is we can play so much better and we beat that team the way we did. So some beautiful things ahead, man. We gotta continue to build, continue to grow. Starting to hear all the noise about, oh man, the Warriors are winning championship and blah, blah. That shit's not real. We have a long, long, long way to go. But I am enjoying and embracing the process of getting there and trying to help bring our young guys up to speed as fast as possibly can. And I think we're starting to see that with young guys like Jordan Poole turning the corner, Jonathan Kuminga as of the last week starting to get minutes and really giving great minutes. And I can go down the list, but the reality is those young guys are coming along and we're 12-2 because of it. You know, when you think about the landscape of the Golden State Warriors and you look at the past, say 7 years, those first 5 of those 7 years were brilliant. It was a championship followed by a Game 7 loss in the NBA Finals, followed by 2 championships, followed by a Game 6 loss. After we lost 2 of the top 10 players in the world to injury in a matter of 48 hours. But then you go past that and you have 2 years in between that up until today. And those 2 years were not so pleasant. They were, it was a shit season where obviously Klay was out due to an ACL injury. Kevin had left, Andre had been traded away, and Steph broke his hand, if I'm not mistaken, 2 or 3 games into the season. It's funny because I was looking at— Steph showed me a clip the other day of a lineup that I was on the court with that year in film. It was myself at the point. Draymond Green. Glen Robinson III at 2, Eric Pascal at the 3, Amari Spellman at the 4, and Willie Cauley-Stein at the 5. I think Glen Robinson III is a very good player. I think Eric Pascal is a very good young player. Amari, in his time in the league, I thought he had really promising talent. And Willie Cauley-Stein is a very good young player. And then obviously I think I'm pretty decent myself. None of those pieces fit though. And yet you would see lineups like that all the time. That's just what we had to roll with. And during those times, a lot of fucking people wrote us off. The dynasty's over. Draymond's washed. He can't do this. He can't do that. Steph Curry has no help. He can't carry a team. You know, he always need help from, he needed help from Kevin Durant, blah, blah, blah. He can't carry a team. Klay's washed, he's this, that, and the other. They'll never be the same. Steve Kerr can't coach. Bob Myers is a terrible GM. You go down the list and the disrespect, it's unbelievable. I mean, you have to know the disrespect is unbelievable by the way Klay keeps speaking out on it. Klay doesn't talk about any fucking thing. Klay doesn't even fucking talk. And yet this guy keeps fucking going insane about the lack of respect that we are getting as an organization, that we are getting as a dynasty. He just keeps going apeshit about it. But I get it because everyone wrote us off and yet here we are 2 years later sitting in first place in the NBA. And hey man, it's a lot of basketball left to be played. Like I'm not gonna sit here and act like, man, we're sitting in first place at game 60. It's game 15. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. But as a champion, I know what it takes to be a champion. So I'm not worried about getting ahead of myself. 'Cause I know how hard it is to win a championship. But what I do know is we have a damn good team and we will continue to grow. We will get Klay back, we will get Wiseman back. And those are two more important pieces to what we're trying to rebuild here. And I think it can and will be really special. But all the fucking doubt over the last couple years. It's funny, I called my fiancée late last night and I was talking to her about all the doubt and just like all the shit. And she said some good things to me. It was actually beautiful to hear. But the doubt has been insane over the last 2 years. And— to come back and be right back there at the top of the league with the good teams in the league today, with hopes of competing for a championship. It's a beautiful feeling. And I still think, you know, we get ourselves there. We know what it takes to win. We know how to get it done. But we're a long ways away and we got a lot of improvements to make. Absolutely. As the course of the season goes on. But if we stay dedicated to the process of reaching, of getting the championship, dedicated to what it takes daily to win a championship, we can put ourselves in contention. And that's all you can ask for, is to give yourself a chance to be in contention. And I think if we continue to work, continue to stay committed, obviously, stay healthy and get healthier, we can give ourselves a real chance. And I like that. And boy, don't let us win a fucking championship because you gotta fucking hear it from me. So those are my thoughts about the Warriors possibly competing and winning a championship. As I know, as I said before, the noise is out there, man. We all hear it now that the Warriors are gonna win blah, blah, blah. But tossing it to another guy who I think is gonna win a championship, the first guy who will be an assistant coach of Coach Nick Saban to take Coach Saban down, Coach Mel Tucker. Extremely excited to have him on the show. Obviously, this is a near and dear one to my heart. I think it's very well documented, my love and affinity for my alma mater, Michigan State University. I couldn't be more proud and thrilled to have Coach Tucker on this show for the first episode. And such a huge week. We got Ohio State this week, which I'll be at the game and I am fucking pumped about. Go support my Spartans. The Heisman of 2021, they say candidate, I say the Heisman, Kenneth Walker, the Boletnikoff winner of 2021. Yeah. Jayden Reed, Payton Thorne continues to grow as a quarterback. I am looking forward to him being the next great quarterback out of Michigan State. We all saw Kirk Cousins do it and what he's doing. And here we are, Coach Tucker done built this thing up. So tossing it over to Coach Tucker. Welcome to the first episode of the Draymond Green Show. Coach Tucker, what's up, man? How you doing?

Draymond, I'm doing great, man. Thanks for having me, man. I can't complain.

How you doing, brother? I am fantastic. I am incredible. I appreciate you coming on here. Obviously, you know, my Spartan blood run deep as yours do as well. And I, you know, you've brought that energy back to the program, which we are all excited to see and extremely appreciative. How are you feeling so far about this season? I know we all see it from one perspective and we're excited, You know, coaches sometimes can have a different respect. So how are you feeling about it? You know what?

I feel like we're moving in the right direction. I really like this team. They're a fun group to coach. They play extremely hard. They play for each other. You know, they play with toughness, mental and physical toughness. Got a great staff here to work with. You know, it's not a one-man show over here. And you know, we're building something special. And, you know, it's a process. We shifted the culture. We're cementing the culture right now, you know, every day. And I really enjoy the process. And I'm proud of what our guys have accomplished so far, but we're not done yet.

That's beautiful to hear. Obviously, as a fan, a couple weeks ago, we had a huge weekend in beating Michigan. And as it should be, and I know you're 2-0 against the guys up the highway, which is beautiful. But then we had a slip up, a slip up against Purdue. And I personally love the way the team bounced back. But how do you as a coach go in and getting the guys refocused and understanding that, all right, we had our slip up, now it's back to action?

Well, the first thing is to own it. You know, we have to, We can't lie to ourselves. You know, we have to take a hard look at ourselves as a staff and as players and go to the truth and go to the facts and say, "Hey, what happened? What happened?" And, you know, it was death by inches. You know, mistake here, misassignment here, miss block here, miss tackle, mental error, lack of communication. All those things add up. And you can't beat good teams. You can't win road games. You can't— You can't. You can't do that when you beat yourself, you know, the margins are too slim. And so we went to the truth, we were honest with ourselves and we learned our lessons and then we went back to work.

And it was a beautiful thing. And you as a Big Ten guy, man, you've been all over the Big Ten, Coach, obviously a Wisconsin graduate, going on to Michigan State, You eventually ended up at Ohio State and then on through the NFL as you made your rounds through the NFL and to Colorado. And now we're lucky to have you back at Michigan State. I gotta tell you, as a Black man, as a Black African American donor to a predominantly Caucasian university, it was very refreshing. For me to see an African American head coach come on and take over for our program. You know, we have all these, all of, you know, so many students, student athletes that are African American. And yet, you know, it sometimes come off as if our African American men aren't worthy of coaching our athletes. And I think it was very refreshing for me and huge for the university in bringing you in as the head coach to run our football program. That's something that I think is great. And now obviously followed up by an African American athletic director, which is also beautiful. So, you know, how do you feel about the inclusion that is taking place at our university and adding more people of color into positions and decision-making positions and positions of leadership?

Well, I think it's important. And it's a great, those are great points that you highlight. You know, Michigan State has always been a place of diversity, equity, and inclusion. You know, I'm not the first Black head football coach here. You know, Bobby Williams obviously was that. Going back to the '60s, you know, Duffy Daugherty and the football program, you know, integrated college football. There was 20-plus players, Black players on the national championship team in 1966. And so it's always had a history of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but you know, it's all, there's always a work in progress. And you know, it's, you've never arrived, you're never there. And so I know that my hiring here is not just about me, you know, it's about all of us. You know, and, you know, with the 130 Division I football programs and maybe 12 or 13 Black head coaches, I know that, you know, I'm carrying the mantle and leading the way for a lot of coaches in the country. You know, young coaches, experienced coaches, you know, I carry that responsibility. And I know that You know, everyone's watching. Everyone wants to see, you know, how we do, you know, how much success, you know, we have here as a program. And, you know, I don't take that responsibility lightly. And so it's something that I think about constantly. That's just part of my experience and part of my existence. But, you know, I'm grateful for the opportunity. And, you know, my desire would be that more African American coaches, you know, men and women, will get opportunities to be head coaches in the major college level, at all levels, and also in the professional ranks. Draymond Green.

Speaking of men and women getting the opportunity, we just saw Dawn Staley get an incredible contract extension, which is well-deserved. Extremely happy for her. I had the time, the opportunity to spend some time with her this summer at Olympics, 'cause we were trapped into this hotel, couldn't go anywhere, and she's incredible. So I was extremely happy to hear that. I am also extremely happy to hear rumblings that That Tuck no longer coming, Tuck staying. And you know, I heard some rumblings last week and that kind of put me on alert. And now there's some reports coming out that you're here to stay and you'll be with us for a long time.

Well, that's my goal. I came here and I made it clear in my initial press conferences that I thought that Michigan State was a destination job and not a stepping stone. And obviously I have Big Ten roots, you know, I played at Wisconsin. I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. My parents are 3 hours and 15 minutes away. My wife is from Chicago. And, you know, I know the Big Ten landscape. This is where I started my career in 1997 as a graduate assistant for Nick Saban. So Michigan State's a special place for me, and so there was never my intention to come here and just pass through. I believe that we're building something special here, and I've had tremendous support here to do that, and we're on the right track.

And it's beautiful to see. I also noticed when you took over the job that you brought some former players back. And I personally think that that's beautiful. 'Cause I think it's important in keeping that culture. You know, it's important that guys embody Michigan State. And so I thought that was a beautiful thing. Can you share with the world how many former players that you brought back onto the staff and how important that it is to you to have those guys?

Well, shoot, I got, It's very important because Spartan dogs are— those are the guys who built this program. And if it weren't for them, there'd be no me. And so Courtney Hawkins is here as our— is coaching our wide receivers. He was at Flint Beecher High School and was the head coach and athletic director there. He was a great player here at Michigan State, an All-American, played in the NFL. Great leader of men. Harlan Barnett was here previously. We were able to get him back after his stint with Florida State. He's coaching our defensive backs again. You know, great player here, great leader, great family man, just a great role model. We also have Kevin Bickerson here on our support staff working on the defensive side of the ball. We got Lorenzo Guess, who played— was on football scholarship but also played basketball. Here, when I was here in '97 and '98, he's in our weight room. Just finished his PhD. Darion Harris— Amazing. Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, these great Spartans. Darion Harris is our Director of Player Engagement. He was a captain on the Rose Bowl team not too long ago. And so, There are gonna be many more. As many former players that we can get back here, you know, we're gonna do that in whatever role that we can find. I think it's important. And those guys, they bleed green and white. I mean, it was blood, sweat, and tears. I mean, they were here, they lived it on the campus, going to class, you know, They've done what our current players are doing right now. So, who better to show them the way, you know, to be examples, to be role models, to help lead these guys and help show them the path to success. And I have a lot of respect for all of our former players, all of our Spartan dogs. Thank you.

That's beautiful. As a former player, I say thank you to just have, to see guys. I was in school with Darion. We spent a ton of time together. Obviously know Benny Fowler, Jarell Worthy, those guys, Denzel Jerome, like that with those guys. So I spent a bunch of time around football players and it's special to see guys coming back and Austin Thornton going back to the basketball team. I'd be remiss if Coach Izzo didn't come up and you and I talking. I see you guys are building a real strong relationship. As someone who is a friend to me, a brother to me, a father figure to me, a coach and a mentor, I am extremely appreciative of that relationship. How is that relationship growing with y'all, but also has grown since the time you come to Michigan, back to Michigan State?

I'll tell you what, man, Coach Izzo, he's the best. He's the best. And, you know, I can see why all of his former players, his current players, why they love him to death and will run through a wall for him because he'll run through a wall for you. You know, that's the type of guy he is. He's real, you know, everything is black and white. There's no gray. And if he tells you something, you can take it to the bank. You know, and he was here when I was a graduate assistant. You know, he had just been recently named the head coach, and he was in the process of building the program. And so I remember it was, you know, Cleaves and Mopeet and Phil and Antonio Smith and all those guys, you know, and there was always, It was always here, always a very close relationship with the football program and the basketball program, which, and it was, Coach Saban was really close with Coach Izzo. They had known each other for a long time. And it was just, it was for something, it was just, it's very special that the football team and the basketball, the men's basketball team here, it's like a family. I mean, it's something that you don't normally see and there's no animosity between the programs and between the coaches, you know, which is a beautiful thing. So when I was presented with this opportunity here at Michigan State, one of the things that I wanted to know, one of the first things I wanted to know was how did Coach Izzo feel about me? You know, that's what I wanted to know. Like, where's that Izzo on this, you know? And I got a call from him. You know, I got a call from him and he said that he was looking forward to working with me and he wanted me to be a Spartan and things like that. And that went a long way with me because he's been here 30-plus years, you know, and he bleeds green and white and the greatness of Michigan State athletics. A lot of it is due to him and what he's done and what he continues to do on a day-to-day basis. And he's not just the head basketball coach. I mean, he's an ambassador for the university. He cares about all the sports, all the other coaches, all the other coaches in the athletic department. I mean, all the donors. I mean, he is— Yeah. He is everything to all people. And so as coming in the door, you know, he's been a tremendous asset to me. He's been a friend. He's counseled me. You know, he's supported me. He's helped me, he's helped introduce me to donors. And we talk about football, we talk about basketball, we talk about toughness, we talk about practice, we talk about all those things. Former players, family. I mean, it's not a day that goes by that I don't talk to him or we don't text back and forth. And I just, it's just been a blessing to me to have a Hall of Fame coach, you know, right here with me, side by side. And I tease him all the time. I say, 'cause we live in the same neighborhood, I said, I'm always pinching myself, even now to this day that I drive home and I get a chance to drive past Tom Izzo's house. So it was like, oh, there's a lot of them. What more could you ask for? Life is good, right?

Absolutely, life is great. Man, I definitely under— if there's anyone that understands him and that relationship, I do. Because it's been, you know, he always say to me, Draymond, you've done so much for me. But the reality is, is he's done so much for me in teaching me what it was to work hard. Like I didn't, I got to Michigan State, I didn't have a clue of what working hard was, you know? Like teaching me how to carry myself, holding me accountable, teaching me further understanding my understanding of the game of basketball, how to watch film, like all these things that matters. And yet will still call me to this day and say, what the fuck are you doing? Like, why are you out there bitching?

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah.

In trouble with our general manager or our head coach, Steve Kerr, I'm getting a call from Coach Izzo. And that's what I truly appreciate about him. You know, it's much further than just those 4 years. And it's way further than just, and deeper than just the game of basketball. So I am—

That's right.

I'm truly appreciative of that. And I understand like, y'all relationship. Obviously I don't understand from a coach's perspective, but I do have an appreciation for it. Speaking of mentors, as you said, you worked for Coach Saban at Michigan State, but you also worked for him at Alabama. And I think an incredible stat is, and I know you know the stat and we all know it and have, I have a fond appreciation for it and I'm sure you do as well. None of his assistant coaches has beaten him. And it's funny because Smitty, Steve Smith, as you know, he said, Draymond, I have a lake house on the same lake as Nick. And Nick say, Draymond, and Nick say, Steve, ain't none of them motherfuckers gonna beat me. I'm gonna always be my assistant coach. So here we are, obviously not to get too far ahead of things, but— Yeah. That could possibly be a matchup in the playoff. And I'm sorry, Coach Saban, but you gotta go down this time, boss.

I'll tell you what, yeah, coaches, I've known Coach Saban since I was a senior in high school. He recruited me when he became the head coach at Toledo. I remember getting a phone call after school one day. I picked up the phone and it was Coach Saban and said, "Hey, this is Nick Saban from the Houston Oilers." I'm like, "Houston Oilers?" I'm in high school, what's the deal? He said he had just got the head job at Toledo where my dad played football and baseball. And that's how I got to know Coach Saban and he gave me my starting coaching. I actually coached, I was his defense backs coach at LSU his first year there. And then I went back there with him in 2015. We won a national championship there. And so he's taught me everything. He laid the foundation for me. Wow. In coaching, 3 of my first 4 years in coaching, I was with Coach Saban. And whether it goes from recruiting to player development, to defensive scheme, you name it, you know, just running the entire organization, strength and conditioning, you know, operations. I mean, he, from A to Z, he knew it, he knows it all. He's a great explainer. That's the one thing I love, one of the things I love about Coach Saban, you know, he's very demanding, which he should be, and he's very detail-oriented and he has a sense of urgency, but he'll always tell you why he wants things done a certain way.

Mm-hmm.

He'll give you great detail and explain to you, you know, he'll give you an example, he'll tell you a story, and he'll tell you why. It's on you if you don't get it done.

Yeah.

Because he's gonna tell you exactly what he wants, how he wants it, why he wants it that way. And there's a reason why he's undoubtedly the greatest coach in the game right now. And he's extremely tough to beat, whether you were a former, whether you were assistant or not. Because he's a relentless recruiter. You know, he's a great coach and he never slows down. And he's a fierce competitor. And it doesn't surprise me when I hear that you, that he said that none of his assistants won't ever beat him because, you know, he's extremely competitive. Yeah. Extremely, and losing is not part of his deal.

No, I respect that. I got a couple more questions and I'm gonna let you go as I know how huge this week is. And as I wanna let you go for your own personal sake, I wanna let you go for my personal sake too, 'cause Michigan State win, I win. But speaking of an important week, we got Ohio State this week. There's no secret of how big this game is, what this game means to our season. And you know, as an athlete, I always say, people say, "What's the best feeling as an athlete?" And I always say, for me, it's going on the road, winning a big game, and you can hear a fucking pencil drop when you're in that stadium. [LAUGHTER] So I'm looking forward to this game. I'll be there supporting. In the green and white. So I'm definitely excited about that opportunity to be there. But what do you feel we need to do as a team in order to go in there and put Ohio State down and make our way on to this playoff?

Well, I'll tell you what, we have to play complimentary football. You know, we have to have our offense and our defense and our special teams clicking on all cylinders for 60 minutes, 4 quarters in the game in order to get it done. We can't leave it up to one player, one side of the ball. We have to play complimentary football. We can't give them anything, you know? So we gotta play smart, mistake-free, you know, execution is gonna be paramount. You know, do your job, trust your training, do your job and count on the man next to you to do his. And it's gonna be a physical game. You know, we have to bring the physicality, you know, we have to win the line of scrimmage. On the offensive side and the defensive side and on special teams, we have to have some momentum plays and we gotta win the field position. But it's gonna, you know, it's gonna take all of us. We're gonna have a great plan. We're gonna have a great week of preparation. And, you know, we're gonna go in there and we're gonna play Michigan State football. And that's, you know, that's rugged. It's physical. You know, it's not necessarily French pastry. It's more meat and potatoes. But you know, that's how we play the game. And that's what it's gonna take.

That's how we love it. I lied, I got 2 more questions for you, Coach. And as a former football player myself who played in the spring game— Who you got? It was terrible, Coach. They set me up for failure. Is there any guys on our team currently that you think, I mean, and obviously, and going out there for 2 days and playing 2 plays in the spring game, I learned so much. And just more so how steep the learning curve is and why so many freshmen redshirt. Because the learning curve at that level is insane. The physicality at that level is insane. So take this question with a grain of salt. I don't really think anyone could go out there and do it, but do you see some guys on our team or anybody for that sake on our basketball team that could have made a great football player today? Man, you know what?

That's a very interesting question because it is a, when I talk to high school, football coaches, one thing that always comes up is they say, "I got all these guys on a basketball team that think they're gonna be NBA players. And they would just come out here and play football. I mean, it'd be a wrap." You know?

Absolutely.

And so—

Absolutely.

Like when I've gone over there and I've, I watched the basketball practices and I see these big guys, I mean, 6'4", 6'5", 6'6", 6'8", 6'9", getting up and down the court. I mean, like just flying up and down the court, man. Changing direction, ball skills, leaping ability, explosive initial quickness, all that. I can't help but to look out there and say, "Man, I wonder what that guy would look like out on the—" Out on the court. Out on the football field. And actually, when I was at Ohio State, when I was at Ohio State, I remember sitting in a, we were in a staff room, in the staff meeting. We were having a recruiting meeting and they put this film on of Akron St. V.

Oh wow.

And we're watching a player and we were like, "Man, who's that? We need to offer that guy." And it was LeBron James, you know? And Jim Tussle said, "Don't worry about it, he won't be playing any football. This guy's a first round pick." NBA guy, I was like, "Wow." So I have seen that type of greatness on the field in terms of at the high school level. But yeah, there's no doubt in my mind that the way Coach Izzo runs his program and the toughness that those guys play with and what's required in those practices, there's no doubt in my mind that those guys can come out here on the football field and and make some plays.

Nah, it's beautiful. I think when I look at our squad, the person who jumps out at me is Malik Hall. Kid's 6'7", got all the physical tools, jump out the gym, run like a deer. I think it's definitely Malik Hall. But before I let you go, coach, and again, I wanna say thank you for being the first guest of the Draymond Green Show. This is extremely special to me, man. I can't thank you enough.

No, thank you.

But in that same spirit, I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the 2021 Heisman candidate, who I think is the 2021 Heisman, Kenneth Walker, who has come and transferred from Wake Forest. And he's come to Michigan State, man. And I don't know how long he'll be there with the way he's playing, But I'm gonna enjoy him this year and what he's been able to do and what he's done for our football team is incredible. I just really wanted to hear from your perspective, what's making him special and also his work ethic. Like what's his work ethic like?

Oh man. Oh, so there's no doubt. There's, I mean, it's obvious what his physical talents are. I mean, he's an elite athlete. Well, first and foremost, he is an outstanding human being. I mean, he is a great person. High, I mean, high character, tremendous. He's a humble guy, you know, not a real talkative guy. He's a great teammate. I mean, just a prince of a man. When the day that, I mean, from the day he got here, he goes in that weight room, He went in that weight room, I mean, the strength coaches were going nuts. They said, "Man, this guy is walking in the door as one of our most explosive athletes, and he is a tireless worker." I mean, he is a grinder. He works, he works like a guy who was a walk-on, who was trying out, he's just trying to get on the team. That's how he works every single day.

Wow.

And I mean, we're really big into the sports science the GPS units and all that stuff. And we have to closely monitor his lows and his reps because he does not loaf. And we have to back him down. We have to monitor his reps, make sure— we may say, "Hey, he's got 12 reps today, 18 reps today," whatever it is. Or the rest of his walk-through or whatever. Because when he goes, he is going. And the reason why he's able to, you know, hit a 50-yard run or 60 and not— 'cause when he gets the ball in practice, He taking it to the house. I mean, that's what he does. I mean, he finishes everything and he works on his pass protection. In terms of his work ethic, he is a guy that you point to and say, "This is how you do it. This is the approach you need to take in the weight room. This is how you need to do, this is how you need to run. This is how you need to take care of your body. This is how you need to practice." I mean, he's that guy. If you take a guy with a tremendous amount of talent like that, and you take a guy with very, very high character, okay, and you put an elite level work ethic with that, then what you have is you got a Heisman candidate.

Absolutely, absolutely.

And that's what he is.

And it's beautiful to see. I definitely hope he get his due. And obviously, you know, as great as that will be for him, great for you, great for the program, great for all of us. Coach Tucker, man, again, thank you so much for coming on, being the first guest of the Draymond Green Show. I truly appreciate it. Looking forward to seeing you Saturday. Let's get it done, coach.

Yeah, well, I'm looking forward to seeing you, man. It's an honor. And a pleasure to be on this first podcast with you. I'm gonna add this to my resume, man. I'm gonna add this to my bio in bold letters, man. But I appreciate you, man. I appreciate everything you've done for Michigan State. I know you've given back in major ways. I know you spoke to our team a couple summers ago when we were attempting to register all our guys to vote and talk about civic engagement. You know, you're just such a great role model for all of our student athletes here. I know Coach Izzo talks about you all the time, and you're just one of the great Spartans. We've had a lot of great ones, and you're certainly one of those. And I just appreciate you and what you mean to Michigan State, what you mean to all of our players who, I mean, when your name is mentioned, guys' eyes light up, man. I mean, they just, 'cause they know what you stand for. They know how hard you play. They know the toughness and know that you care about people. And it's more than just basketball with you. So it was certainly an honor and a pleasure to come on with you today. Thank you so much.

Absolutely. Thank you, Coach. For the first installment of Commissioner Dray, I am extremely excited in bringing this This is kind of my vantage point of how I see things, decisions that I would make if I was the commissioner. Today or yesterday, we found out some huge news. And it's huge because it is, when you touch historical monuments, it's a real thing. Like it's, you know, people, associate such great times or bad times or just times with historical things. And when you touch those things, you kind of shake shit up a bit. And so coming outta LA today, we had such huge news that Staples Center will no longer be the Staples Center and it will be the Crypto.com Arena. Interesting. Very interesting. Because sometimes in life, and especially in sports, certain things outgrow the actual thing that sits above it. And so for instance, the Staples Center, the Staples Center severely outgrew the store Staples. If you're anywhere in the world and you say, I'm going to Staples, and especially in LA, but if you're anywhere in the world and you say, I'm going to Staples, people are going to think you are headed to LA to go to a Lakers game at the Staples Center, to go to a concert at the Staples Center, to do something at the Staples Center. If you say, I'm going to Staples, I think another example of that, was Oracle Arena, where I had the luxury of winning 3 championships, or playing in that building and winning 3 championships. Most people doesn't even know what the company Oracle does. But yet if you say, "Oh yeah, I'm going to Oracle," they're never gonna think you're going to the company headquarters or something for the company. They're gonna think you're going to Oakland, California, and going to the stadium that the Warriors played at. And so sometimes you have those situations happen and it fucking sucks. It sucks. It absolutely sucks when all of a sudden it comes up and there's a name change because those names grow with those places. But the reality is, for instance, the Lakers signed a 20-year deal. In 20 years, who knows if Crypto.com will be the place and there'll be some other big company that can afford the name and rights. And that's where Commissioner Dray comes in at because what's the solution? Like again, people tie like all these memories to these places. I mean, one we can all tie to Staples is Kobe played there. You know, like Kobe played at Staples. Kobe didn't play at Crypto.com Arena. And so like just that whole thing, it's just like a, it really does suck. So what is the solution? It's interesting because you ask yourself, well, should these arenas be named after companies? Because they're forever changing the landscape of America and our finances and Wall Street and companies and— Yeah. And new companies and startups and the next Facebook and all of these companies. Like it's forever constantly changing. And so we'll see more of this. This is just the latest, greatest huge announcement that we've seen, but we'll see more of this and more people will lose that sacred name that has grown with this place and with the successes of these teams. Events that take place in these certain stadiums and arenas. And so the solution, I don't know, is it to name arenas after players? Well, Commissioner Draymond Green, you can't do that because a player isn't paying $700 million for 20 years. As a commissioner, your number one job is to grow this league, to grow the pot, to grow the revenue. To take this league to new places. And so you're kind of faced with the task of, do we change something that's so sacred and that's become so big and like a staple, or do we stay with the name and not capitalize on $700 million of revenue? As a commissioner, You must capitalize on the $700 million of revenue as it is nearly impossible to make up $700 million of revenue. But it's tough and it never sits well with anyone. Um, no one wants to say they're going to Crypto.com Arena, not because Crypto.com is bad, but because Staples is Staples. It's historic. I grew up watching Kobe and Shaq win championships at Staples. It sucks. And, but as commissioner, you must take the $700 million. So kudos to the Lakers and Jeanie Buss and Linda Rambis and getting a $700 million name rights for a stadium. 'Cause it is extremely impressive. So shout out to those two women continuing to do great things with that organization. It's a beautiful thing. But as a fan, the fan in me, I step outside, I take my commissioner hat off. The fan in me, you hate to see Staples go. You hate to see the name Oracle go because they just become so important to the makeup of these teams, to the history of these teams. You just hate to see it go. Yeah. So you've heard of mean tweets. We've all seen 'em, we've all laughed about 'em. In the same vein, the guy who you know as the man who gets the technical fouls, who gets into the shit on the court, who talks the shit on and off the court, I am going to give blind compliments. And what blind compliments will be, that will be me hearing a random name from my incredible producer Jackson, He will pull a name out the hat and it'll just be a random name for me. And I have to give a nice, I have to give a nice compliment to that guy. I have to just say something nice right off the top of the head. Blind Compliments bringing this to you. First episode of the Draymond Green Show. Jackson, who's our first person?

In the spirit of having Mel Tucker as the first guest on the show. The first blind compliments name, Jim Harbaugh, Michigan head coach.

Ew. Oh my God. Oh man, he, Jim Harbaugh. He with us. He's our big, he's Michigan State's biggest ally. We love you, Jim. I love you. Keep bringing those wins to East Lansing, Jim.

All right, that was pretty good. I was close to not being a compliment, but I'll let it slide. The next one, Rodney McGruder.

Rodney McGruder. Rodney McGruder was a hell of a basketball player at Kansas State. And he carved out a decent NBA career for himself. I definitely didn't like what happened with our team. What was it last year? But Rodney McGruder, I've always respected as a basketball player. Hard nose. He got it out the mud. So I'll always have a respect for that. Any guy who gets it out the mud. So that's my compliment for Rodney McGruder.

You want one more?

Absolutely.

Okay, so this one, very infamous singer of the national anthem. Some of you may have heard this rendition. Birdie. We're going Fergie.

I feel terrible laughing at a legend like Fergie. Fergie's a fucking legend.

A legend.

Fergie is a fucking legend. That's it. She's a legend. We all miss. We all miss. But Fergie is a fucking legend.

All right, I accept it. That's good. That's good.

I wanna thank everyone for tuning in to the first episode of the Draymond Green Show. That was a lot of fun. We'll be here every week. Make sure you click the subscribe button. The Volume Sports. Don't miss a week. You may miss a gym or 2 or 3. So I'd love to see y'all back here next week. So stay tuned in, stay locked in. Same time next week. Love you guys. Thanks for tuning in to the first episode of the Draymond Green Show. Peace.