Draymond Green on Warriors Preseason, NBA Push-Off Rule, & LeBron's Fanatics Helicopter Deal

What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. On today's show, I'll discuss how my dubs have been looking so far throughout the preseason. What's become a topic of discussion, which I'll talk a little bit about, I suppose, is LeBron's helicopter trip. And there's much, much more going on around the league. So let's get right into it. We have played 3 preseason games thus far. We've played one against the Clippers in Hawaii, versus the Lakers, and versus the Trail Blazers. Obviously the Trail Blazers game. A lot of us didn't play. Myself, Steph, Yaxel, BP, George Niang, Al, Melk. The list goes on and on and on. Yeah, we didn't play. Well, number one, we flew back from Hawaii, got back from Hawaii at about 2:00 AM Monday morning. We played on Tuesday at home and then played on Wednesday in Portland. So for a preseason trek, the Trailblazer game was just crazy. It's preseason. So we took a different approach and didn't play in that game, but the young fellas played really well in that game. It was great to see. And how I would assess us preseason so far is game 1 against the Clippers, We were kind of all over the place offensively. We've been running kind of this new offense. So getting accustomed to that offense, that game we were kind of still trying to figure it out. And we're still like, you know, you run a new offense, it's gonna take some time to figure it out. But then we played the Lakers and obviously it was, you know, Luka didn't play, Austin didn't play, Zaire didn't play, Teas didn't play. Several of their guys didn't play, obviously. But needless to say, we then, like the offense, that game looked a lot better. It just flowed better. You know, guys was kind of just moving in the flow of it as opposed to overthinking and trying to make sure I'm in this right spot. I'm over here like, no, you just ultimately you want it to just become basketball and you can just flow into it and you make reads off of it. And so I think in the Laker game it started to flow better. And then the young guys, versus the Blazers, it didn't flow well for them that next game versus the Blazers. So feel like we're starting to figure it out more and more. We're spending a lot of time obviously in practice on it. But overall, and then the defense, you know, I think we've played really good defense in some spurts, really good defense in the Laker game, and then had played well defensively again in Timberwolves game. And so I think the defense is coming along as well. So overall, I think, you know, it's starting to come together. Like I said, it's still gonna take some time, but, you know, I feel a lot better going into Sacramento game than I did, you know, a week ago. I feel a lot more comfortable. So still not all the way comfortable, but figuring it out. And I think for our team, we're starting to figure it out and figure out what's gonna work for this team. But We got a ways to go, but it's been a really good preseason for us. It's been a really good preseason. We had a really good training camp, so it's all starting to come together. There's been a lot of questions about Porzingis. When is he coming back? Have you spoke to him? All of these questions. And the answer is, no matter how many times people ask, when is he coming back? I don't think that answer is changing. Like I think. I think when Porzingis is back, everyone will know. Like, like, we'll know it. Like, I don't think it'll be like, oh, he's back in a week, you know. I think, you know, if you're dealing with something from a health standpoint, which I, I, again, none of us know, um, it's not like, oh, he'll be back in a week. He'll, he'll probably come back and then it'll be like, oh, y'all know he come back, came back. Like, we know he came. Like, I think that happens at the same time. I don't think it's necessarily a— A kind of a timeline of return. And so I think people will continue to ask this question for weeks on end, and like, the answer is going to be the same. And so I don't think it's the reason to keep asking the question. But needless to say, definitely, you know, sending well wishes to Porzingis and praying for him. Porzingis, as you know, he tries to recover from, again, whatever it is that he's dealing with. In saying that, I think we've already, you know, with Porzingis out, we're already starting to explore different lineups because you don't know how long he's going to be out. And I think what I like about this team so far is, uh, the team— number one, I think the team has really good chemistry, uh, but I think the team has a lot of room to grow. And I also think we, we have more size than we had a year ago, more length. I think we're a little more athletic than we were a year ago. And so, you know, a very underrated addition is gonna be B-Dub, Brandon Williams. He's fast, change of pace, super athletic guard. I think he's gonna be a great addition to our team. You know, like I said before, he can break guys down and get into the paint. So I think we definitely got a little more athletic, which is good. And a little bigger. Which is good as well. So, you know, that'll allow you to play some different type of lineups and different things like that. You know, and when you do decide to go small, you're not necessarily extremely small. Like, yeah, you go small, but you still got some size out there. So overall, I think that's what I'm liking most about the team so far. Funny. So the video from after the Clipper game, So I had a sweater tied around my waist and I had my fanny pack tied around my waist and I had my glasses pulling down like this. So everything on my shirt's pulling down. So I know y'all went crazy and I really don't give a damn, you know, but I'm actually in pretty decent shape for where I wanna be right now. But however, did look crazy on the thing with all my stuff just kind of— Being pulled, pulled down and sagging down. Needless to say, I really don't give a damn what y'all say, because half the people who are saying something look ridiculous. Half of the people, the other 25% of people feel ridiculous, and 25% of the other are ridiculous. So I really don't give a damn. I want to tell you about Zapli. As a professional athlete, staying at peak performance isn't the same as when I was 22. If you're a man over 35 dealing with afternoon slumps and low energy, listen up. I have to be incredibly conscious about my health, from training and sleep to my diet and supplements. If you're still buying supplements separately, stop. This all-in-one formula fills all your nutrition gaps. 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Now, as promised, we'll move around the association, and there has been breaking news over and over again, uh, about LeBron flying, uh, from NYC to Philly. And then now there's details out on it. And according to Fox Office Sports, LeBron's use of a Fanatics-branded helicopter is part of his broad deal with the company, which Extends to after his playing career is over and includes use of Fanatics Aviation. Only a small handful of other athletes with big Fanatics deals get same access. So, uh, thoughts on this? Well, here's my thoughts on this. Number one, like, let that man fly in peace. Like, y'all, y'all recording this man every time he take off and land, and he's landing, um, in the city and landing, leaving the— like, let that man fly in peace. Let that brother get to work how he gonna get to work. And get home. How he gonna get home? Must be snow, slow news days, man. Everybody like making this man's method of transportation a thing. Let that man go, come and go as he please in, in peace. People so goddamn nosy. However, what I will say about this is, if you remember a few weeks ago, Rich Paul said There's 2 players that really need to fly private in the NBA. And he said, that's Steph Curry and LeBron James. If you also remember a few weeks ago, he said, and those guys don't always, don't just be paying for their flights. They have deals with people that pay for their flights. So when you see this from front office sports, it should give you a little more context. Of what Rich Paul was saying a couple weeks ago on his podcast. Here's a situation where LeBron is using this helicopter, and if it's a part of his deal, you know, you probably get a certain amount of hours. Uh, he's— he is LeBron, so maybe he gets unlimited, who knows. But then also, if even if you end up having to pay, you probably fly it at their— at their cost. So for instance, in a situation like that, I don't know the exact cost, but say for instance, if you were chartering that airplane, it'd probably be $12,000 one way or, you know, round trip, however the price may be. But let's just say $12,000 for a figure. And it's $12,000. However, you're paying a charter fee, you're paying a pilot fee, you're paying— Fuel. Obviously, you know, all the maintenance and stuff, gas, fuel, all those things, you know, fuel that goes into the helicopter, all those things. So say your round trip is $12,000. However, the owner of the helicopter, their cost could have been $500 an hour. So their cost for the flight could have been $2,500 or $3,000. And they— and Between the fees and, you know, charter, all these different things, you may have paid $12,000. So I'd imagine in a deal like this, you have a certain amount of hours. And then when you, you know, when you run out of those hours, then you probably fly it at their cost, which is still substantially cheaper than what it would be if you were chartering that helicopter, you know. And the same goes for like flights, you know, private flights. Again, I don't know if this means LeBron will fly on Fanatics' plane. I don't know all of that. This doesn't say much, but you've seen the helicopter and with the hours and just explaining how chartering and how this could work. But also explaining Rich Paul's statement where incredible to be of that stature and have these types of deals. 'Cause it, in catering to that lifestyle, it, you know, it has its benefits, you know, and this is one of them. But can we please stop making this, how this guy get to work, a thing? That shit's kind of weird. Blake Henson, who I've had the opportunity to spend training camp with. He was with us in training camp, I think 2 or 3, 3 years ago. I would, I think 3 years ago. Great dude, man. Love Blake. Incredible competitor. Happy to see him carving out his role with the Jazz. But he said, I can help however, man. I can go get coffee. I can maybe make a shot. I can talk to somebody. I can watch your dog. I just wanna be a part of the program. And the reality is, this is the mindset that you must have in order to be in Blake Henson's position and earn your way onto a team. When you're the 14th, 15th man, possibly getting two-way deals, you can't have the— you have to have this mentality. You have to be willing to do whatever it is that you need to do in order to be in the position. You have to also remember, if you're willing to do all of these things and the star players on your team love you, That could play a role in you staying on that team. 'Cause those guys maybe ask their opinion and they like, yo, I like Blake. Or they may go in like, yo, we gotta keep him because he brings something to the team that we just need around. And so I love that mindset. And he won't make it because of this mindset. He's gonna make it because he's 6'7 and strong as hell and can shoot the piss out the ball. And he's an incredible competitor. But he will make it with this mindset and that skills and that skillset and being overlooked and having on the grind that he's been on through the G League multiple years and finally getting this opportunity. That mindset will serve him well. And that mindset will have those star players on that team like, yo, we need him around. Like he's just vital to our team morale. And so I say to a lot of young guys, like, take note. Take note because that's a big deal. Nobody want their 14th or 15th man and you got issues all the time and they gotta deal with your issues. Nobody got time to deal with the issues of the 14th or 15th man. It's just how it goes. That's just the way it is. So that mindset is great. Shout out to Blake Henson, man. I got nothing but love for Blake. But that mindset is incredible. And like I said, young people take note. No pun intended. I think that's the Jazz saying. But anyway, you heard it. John Collins and Dillon Brooks got into a scuffle nearly 5 minutes into the first preseason game. And considering what I said about John Collins filling the Isaiah Stewart role, I did not know he was gonna come in and try to fill— fill the role right away. I don't think Dillon Brooks agreed with him or felt he should be filling the role either. 'Cause John Collins went to choke Dillon Brooks and Dillon was like, hey, chill out. Like, it looked like he said something to that nigga, something to that nature. Like, what you doing? Like, yo, what you doing? Chill out. He just kind of hit his arm right down. But I respect John Collins for, you know, trying. Gotta give, gotta give some effort, you know, give an A for effort. I respect that, but Dillon just threw his arm right away. John, you gotta, you gotta work on your grips, bro. He just slapped his arm down like a little kid saying, stop. Like, hey, stop it. That's what it looked like Dillon Brooks did to him. But like I said, I respect the effort. However, when you giving that effort though, and you gonna step into them shoes Stewie was filling, you step into those shoes, you gonna have some big shoes to fill. You gonna have to be on that type of time all the time. 'Cause then people gonna start trying you to see if you on that type of time. So, you know what I'm saying? I ain't saying nothing about John Collins other than, you know, if you ain't gonna be on that type of time all the time, bro, just, you know, it's cool. Then Detroit. I know Detroit. Detroit gonna be like, yo, John Collins, you gotta be on that type of time. And I don't really know if you wanna be on that type of time all the time, John. So just tread a little lightly, man, or be on that type of time all the time, whatever you gonna do. But just know, can't be splitting hairs, bro. 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Go to shopify.com/draymond today to hear your first— Joe Mazzulla talked about the Celtics and every team's vibes being high right now. He said every team is the most together team right now because we haven't traveled. No one's gotten benched. No one's been on a losing streak. No one's gotten blamed in the media. No one's had to go stand in the corner for 10 minutes and not get the ball. So you learn those things as the season goes on and you just learn how to work through those things together. And you can't simulate those. It just comes with time. And this is, this is a fact. Like right now, everybody feel like they got a chance to make the playoffs. Unless you really know, like, and you're realistic. But like, every team feel like they can make the team, they gonna make the playoffs this year. Every team feel like their team chemistry is great this year. They coming off the summer, they might've met up in the summer. You know what I'm saying? Did a little camp here, mini camp there, trip here, trip there. You know what I'm saying? Every team is feeling that way right now. There's no lies told. But when shit hit the fan, Who are the teams that stick together? Who's the teams built to stick together? Those are the teams that ultimately become the contenders. But right now there's 30 teams feeling great about themselves, not giving a damn. Everybody feel like, oh man, we probably got a chance this year. Everybody feel like that right now. Again, there's a couple realistic ones that's like, ah, but everybody feeling good right now. All the smiles. Nobody's frowned up except Vivek Ranadive. Apparently Vivek Ranadive is at the Kings, but everybody else feel like they got a chance. And that's just the way it goes. You know what I'm saying? Then 10 games in, you start to see, you know, like, oh man, I ain't looking too good over there. And 20 games in, you like, oh shoot. 30 games in, some of these teams be like, you know what? We mailing it in, man. We gonna take it on in. It's over. We gonna start shipping our cars out about 2 weeks from now. You know, mosey on to the All-Star break and All-Star break, right after All-Star break, man, we 20 games, we outta here. That's, you know, that's a lot of, some teams have that mindset by game 30, 35. They know they season over. That's gotta, that's shitty. But you know, right now though, preseason. Oh man, everybody feeling good about themselves. NBA refs are starting to enforce the off-arm push-off rule in the preseason. And quite honestly, as a defensive player, I would tell you all, don't bank on this. Don't waste your time thinking like, oh man, like I'm gonna see them calling this now. Like I'm telling you, these are the types of rules right here that's going against the offense. They call 'em in the preseason. And then when the season start, that shit just fade away. You know what I'm saying? Before you know it, great offensive players gonna come down, bam, get outta here. And shoot they shot and get they basket and everything gonna go the other way. These types of rules right here in my 15 years, 14, 15 now, they don't stand. They get called during the preseason, the emphasis on the preseason. Yeah, boom, we got you. And then as soon as the preseason is over, That off-arm gonna get called less and less. Less and less. Apparently there's supposed to be a freedom of movement rule. You know how they just be grabbing Steph and hugging on him? That's supposed to be foul. Guess what? Freedom of movement been a thing and we've seen Steph Curry not get those fouls. So guess what? I ain't gonna hold my breath on that one either because they be calling foul for Steph every play and they just ain't gonna call it every play. You know what coaches tell their players? Hey man, just keep grabbing them. They can't call all of them. Keep grabbing them. Just grab them and hold them. They can't call all of them. And guess what? They don't call them. So now that it's a point of emphasis, you think they gonna call it? All of them? Hell no, they not gonna call them. So when you see these things, I wouldn't get too overly hype on it. Y'all remember the flopping rule? Apparently we were just told we're gonna get, uh, get, get more, uh, techs for flopping. But remember the flopping rule, man? It's probably been 30 flopping calls, penalties, 30 little flop rules in the NBA since that rule came in 3 or 4 years ago. And there's guys flopping on every play. So Again, some of these point of emphasis things, they happen for a little bit in the playoff and in the preseason, and then they just go away. So me as a defender, I don't hold my breath for these types. I know it's gonna be against me. So what I gotta do, I gotta learn to time up when that guy is about to deliver that blow so I can lean my chest forward a little bit. So when he deliver the off arm, I don't go too far back. I may go from this lean back to my natural position and I can still climb up a little bit and contest the shot. You know, climb up, take the space away. Ultimately, as a defender, that's my mindset because I'm not banking on them doing nothing against the offense. It just ain't never been a thing. Thank y'all again for tuning into the Draymond Green Show. Until next time, deuces. If you're rocking with the Draymond Green Show, be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app. And while you're there, go ahead and drop a 5-star rating and leave a review. I wanna hear what you think, and it would also mean a ton to me if you share it with a friend that you think would enjoy it. Let's keep this thing growing. The Draymond Green Show is presented by Audacy and executive produced in conjunction with The New Media. Our executive producers are Leah Reese Dennis, Danny Friesinger, and Greg Holtzman. 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