Draymond Green praises Anthony Edwards & Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for elevating T-Wolves & Thunder

Man, you look at the Western Conference, which I think is very interesting. You got the T-Wolves, the Thunder, the Nuggets, and the Clippers sitting at the top of the Western Conference. T-Wolves, fairly young team, although Rudy Gobert's been around for a while, KAT's been around for a while, but they're very young in experience, especially playoff experience. Kyle Anderson's been around for a while. But they're young and they're being led by a very, very, very young guy in Anthony Edwards, their star player who's playing well, who's talked so much about wanting that spot and wanting that responsibility. And he's handling it as good as you can handle it. He's poised, he's carrying the team. He's taking a franchise that hasn't won ever anything and he's carrying them and propelling them. And showing that all the things that he's been saying, he means, and you gotta give him some credit there.

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And then you have the Thunder, uh, Young Thunder, who I've always told— I— we all knew was coming. Like, we knew that those young guys were growing and it was only a matter of time before they had to be reckoned with. The time is now. They have to be reckoned with. Shea Gildress-Alexander is first team All-NBA performer, a problem. Not sure why he's not higher up in the MVP conversation. Incredible. Jalen Williams, the guard from Santa Clara, a special, Special dude can shoot, he can pass, he can handle, he can finish, he can defend. He has great size so he can guard multiple positions. He's athletic, he's great in the pick and roll. Like Jalen Williams is special and over/under 2 years before he's an All-Star himself, I'm gonna take the under. He is a problem. And it's gonna get interesting because OKC got a lot of young guys right now, but those guys are starting to grow and it's gonna be time to pay those guys and they're gonna end up coming down to some decisions that they're gonna have to make in the near future over the next couple years, especially being a small market team. They're gonna have to make some decisions on those guys. Jalen Williams, is one problem. Really, really good. Chet Holmgren, a problem. Really good. Like, and Chet has the demeanor, like he talks, like he feel like nobody can check him. They got Lou Dort being who Lou Dort is. All those young guys have gotten better. Aaron Wiggins has gotten better. Giddy has gotten better. Isaiah Joe has gotten better. Those guys, that's a good, good team, man. And they're showing it night in and night out. Yeah, they're still young. I won a championship in my third year. So it's not impossible. But, and they got a guy, Shay. Yeah. And when Shay's in foul trouble, they got another guy who takes over, Jalen Williams, like, and Chet, you know? So that team is a problem and they gotta be reckoned with. Then you have the defending champs, the Denver Nuggets. We all know who they are. Not much that I need to say there. They lost some key pieces and they look like they're picking up right where they left off. They got some young guys stepping up, Payton Watson, is playing a much larger role and more minutes. I saw Payton Watson work out, his pre-draft workout with the Warriors, and I was like, man, I really like that kid. Like, that kid got a chance to be really good, and he's improving. He's showing it. And some of the questions that people had about him on why he fell in the draft, his professionalism and all those things, young fella doing it. And he's in a great organization. With a great head coach, one that's gonna hold you accountable. And he doing it. So you gotta give those guys credit. And then you got the Clippers, the Clippers who the first 7 games of their experiment we all thought were dead and had no chance. And they are playing great basketball. James Harden running the— Draymond Green. The point being who James Harden has been. James Harden, I think by the way, James Harden should be an All-Star this year. I'm not sure how people are viewing that, but he only missed like the first 4 games for the Clippers, first 4 or 5 games, like, and then he got traded there and he's playing at an All-Star level and the way their team is playing, I think James Harden, is an All-Star this year? Should be. Will people look at it from what— will people judge him on what's happened the past few years? That's the question. But James Harden should be an All-Star this year. James Harden is playing at an All-Star level. Kawhi Leonard, congrats on his extension. Um, Kawhi Leonard signed a 3-year $100 million... Da da da da dot dot. $30 million extension maybe?

152.

God, 152. Jesus Christ. But we all know Kawhi Leonard is that level of player when he's healthy and he's been extremely healthy this year. And their team success is because of it. PG's been pretty healthy this year and their team success is showing that. Ty Lue. Great coach, willing to take on James Harden when nobody else wanted to, and it's paying dividends. And so then you got the Clippers, and then you start talking about contenders. Like, I think it's still early to say, oh, this team is a contender, that team is a contender. You know, you like to think all of those guys will be contenders, but playoffs, are different for a lot of people than regular season basketball. And so I don't know, we'll see. But those teams are playing extremely well and you gotta get 'em your credit. Before we get outta here, I saw my old teammate Nick Young on Gilbert Arenas' podcast talking about me and Gil are the same type of leader. What was Draymond like as a teammate?

Well, he got a little bit of Gil in him. He got a little bit of Gil in him. Like when I played with Gil, if I didn't do something right, Right here. The motherfucker ain't ready. Don't put him in. Say that shit out loud to the coach and shit. So Draymond did some similar shit. I shot the ball. He like, "Nigga, we don't do that shit here. We don't shoot that type of shot here." I said, "Curry just shot the same shot I shot. You don't say that shit to him." He said, "It's different. He won the championship. You ain't win shit yet." So I just said, "All right, man, fuck it." You know what?

I don't know much about Gil's leadership. Never heard much about it. I know about his game. I watched that and he was a problem. Shoot the lights out of the ball, score the ball with the best of 'em. But to hear what Nick Young said, like, I respect Gil. Like, if you coming in and you ain't ready to play, you gotta go sit back down. You have to go sit back down. I remember talking to Nick about the shot he was talking about as well. And yeah, I meant that, like, you know, Like, Nick, some guys, like Steph Curry is gonna take those shots and you gonna live with it and I'm gonna live with it too. 'Cause he gonna make 'em more often than not. But like, we just can't be casting all type of shots, Nick. Like, come on now. And you know, he took the advice and guess what? We got a ring. So I can't say to Nick no more, you can't shoot those shots because you ain't won a ring yet. Notice he said yet, by the way. I knew we'd win and we did. And Nick Young came up huge in that Houston series. Didn't play a ton and then came in, Big games, hit big shots, check James Harden. Played a big role, big role for us in those playoffs when we won that championship. So shout out to Nick Young. I know he talks a lot of nonsense, but still one of my favorite teammates. Was very fun to play with. And it's good, you know, that he's, you know, to see him, you know, kind of reemerging in the media space. Extremely funny dude. I think he's great in the media space. He knows the game, but it's very lighthearted. You know, he talk about his, what do you call him? What do you call him? Corner what? Corner something. Corner. He hilarious. And like I said, he know the game. He's an NBA champion. So it's good to see Swag resurfacing in a major way in the media space, giving his opinion. And I love it, although I don't always agree with it. And sometimes I think he don't know what the hell he be talking about. And sometimes just talking to be funny. Nonetheless, I do know what he's talking about. Appreciate Nick. That's my dog. Gil, shout out to you and your leadership, baby. It gets it done. Much love to everybody. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Draymond Green Show. Thank you for your patience. I thank you for staying here with us. And like I said before, if you're new, I thank you for coming to check us out and hope you do stay here. Again, make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel, youtube.com/@DraymondGreenShow. Lock in, check us out on Instagram @DraymondShow. Check us out. Tune in. Subscribe, lock in with us. Got another episode coming later this week with an interview I think you guys will love. Until then, that's a wrap. Peace. Peace.