In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green opens by addressing the recent public feud sparked by JJ Redick’s criticism of Doc Rivers, Patrick Beverley, and Austin Rivers. Green backs Redick’s point that Rivers repeatedly makes excuses for his team’s performance, emphasizing that Rivers was hired to fix known issues and should stop blaming others. While expressing love for Rivers, Green insists accountability is needed. The show then transitions to a listener mailbag segment with co‑host Jaxson. They discuss the role of rookie Trace Jaxson Davis on the Golden State Warriors, highlighting his chemistry with Klay Thompson and typical rookie challenges. Green affirms the Warriors are legitimate title contenders this season, noting that success depends on various factors aligning. When asked about the Milwaukee Bucks, Green argues their championship chances hinge on the health of Chris Middleton, despite having Giannis Antetokounmpo. Finally, they critique the NBA dunk‑contest judging panel, calling it inconsistent and suggesting younger judges like Zach Levine or Vince to improve credibility. The episode wraps with a reminder to subscribe and check out the podcast elsewhere.
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What's up everybody? Welcome to the Draymond Green Show YouTube channel. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. Make sure you like the post that you love, but you can get everything the Draymond Green Show right on our YouTube channel. So make sure you subscribe, check that out. Thank you. Lastly, before we get to the mailbag questions, JJ Reddick versus Doc Rivers and Patrick Beverley and Austin Rivers and who else? Draymond Green, whoever else. Things got spicy and JJ went in and the gist of it was pretty much him calling Doc out and saying, Doc, stop making excuses. You keep making excuses. You keep blaming guys. You keep doing this. You keep— enough. Stop it. And I saw JJ apologize and said, listen, my tone, I looked a little hot and my tone could have been better, but I'm not apologizing for what I said. I meant every word that I said. And I agree with JJ. When I watch, been watching these doc interviews, these guys were in Cabo. That guy was here. We didn't, something didn't go right. It's only been 2 days. Every interview is another excuse. And that just can't work. Like, you knew what you was signing up for, Doc. You took over a team more than halfway through the season, through the halfway mark of the games of the season, if I'm not mistaken. 3-7 in the last 10. You knew what you was getting yourself into. You knew the issues that the team had before you got there. You knew all of these things. You can't, you can't go make excuses now because you were actually brought in to fix those very things. And so you can't come and make the same excuses of the things that we already knew, because if that's the case, then you couldn't really accept the job with all that money that they gave you.
Yeah.
So I totally understand where JJ was coming from. Um, Pat Bev understood where JJ was coming from, and Austin Rivers understood where JJ was coming from. And the reason you know they understood where JJ was coming from is because they never said anything about what JJ said. What they did was attack JJ's playing career and say Doc saved your career. What all Doc did for you for your career. Now, if I was watching JJ's hit, it did come off as a little like, I got a little animosity built up from my playing days under Doc and I'm getting them all out now. It did come off a bit that way. But I played for Tom Izzo. And playing for Tom Izzo, you learn something early, you learn it fast, and you get the lesson often, which is listen to what I'm saying, not how I'm saying it. So I listened to what JJ said, not how he was saying it. Although again, I did get the same gist that you all got. JJ might not like Doc. I did get that a little bit, but More importantly, I heard what JJ was saying and what he was saying was very accurate. We cannot have the excuses, Doc. I love Doc, as you all know, I've stated that on this podcast several times. Nothing but love for Doc. But every press conference, it cannot be a different excuse. And we all wanted to be in Cabo. My Cabo days got even shortened because I had to go to Indianapolis for my TNT Sports family. Which was great. I wouldn't change it for nothing in the world. Enjoyed it, had a blast. It was money. But we all wanted to be in Cabo. That is your role as the coach to make sure them guys ready to play. That is Giannis and Dame's role as leaders to make sure guys are ready to play before the All-Star break. So I get where JJ was coming from. Mm-hmm. —and nobody disputed the things that JJ said. They almost were disputing how it came off, which mean it was facts. So Doc, we can't do the excuses, Doc. We love you, man, but you gotta get that team going. That's what they hired you for. You knew the challenges before you took the job. You took the job, you there. Gotta do what you gotta do to right that ship, Doc. Jaxson, before we get outta here, you got some questions for me?
I do. I do. Thank you guys for asking the questions. We're gonna do this every time we have a Bleacher Report live episode. First one from @channing. What do you see Trace Jaxson Davis's role on the team being going forward?
Um, you know, as a rookie, uh, what'd you say his name is? @channing. As a rookie, always hard to get consistent minutes because things change from time to time and you are usually the first one to get your minutes teetered with. In saying that, Trace has a very good connection with Klay. And what young guys should understand is that will get you on the floor. When I was a rookie, You go watch it. I'd egregiously like come from anywhere on the floor, like headhunting stuff, man, to set screens. It created chemistry. It got me on the floor. So you gotta understand the things that can get you on the floor. And if I, I know how important Klay Thompson is to this team. So if I can build a connection with him, that gets me minutes. So, Draymond Green should understand that. Where, what his role will be is what he is when he's in floor, when he's on the floor, he's a rim protector. He's a lob threat. He's screening and rolling, rebounding the basketball. That's what, that's what his role will be. How much that will be, you gotta talk to Steve Kerr on that one.
Next question from @t.drilly. Are you guys legit title contenders this season?
I 100% believe that we are legit title contenders this season. I don't see any team out there that we couldn't beat. Obviously the cards gotta fall in place. Obviously a lot of things gotta go your way. Obviously you need some luck. That's just the nature of winning championships. But I don't see any team in the NBA that we can beat and compete for a title. And mama, we still got that man. I 100% think we are.
Staying on the topic of title contenders and sort of connecting it back to your conversation about Doc, do you think the Bucks— sorry, this is from @JakeSteak. Do you think the Bucks have a legit title shot this year?
Do I think the Bucks have a legit title shot? Uh, they have two great players in Draymond Green and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Um, that always gives you a chance. However, they need a very healthy Chris Middleton. Chris hasn't seemed that healthy this year, and because of that, I don't think they are title contenders because they're going— if they're going to have any chance to compete with anybody, Chris has to be healthy. He's too important to that team. What he brings is something that no one else on that roster brings. So They can get Chris healthy, that puts them in the conversation. If Chris is not healthy, no chance.
Last one. We said we would do 4 today since we only did 3 last week. Let's do our 4th question from @bvd313. Do you think the judging has killed the dunk contest? I've heard a lot of discourse about this before.
The judging I think is bad. Um, I think number 1, you should probably have some Listen, Dominique, human highlight reel, is a staple in the dunk contest, so can't say much there. Nick should always be there. But you need to, like, where's the Jason Richersons? Where's the, you know, Fred Jones was there, was Indianapolis. But like, where's the younger guys? Not quite, like, there were a couple guys on the panel where it's like, ah, like, Let's get some of these Zach Levine. Like—
I want Zach, I want Vince.
Vince, you know, like let's get some younger blood in the judge seats on the panel. I think that does play a role in it. It's so inconsistent. We saw some dunks and we were like, oh man, that dunk was weak. And then it was like a 49. You're like, whoa. Like it's no consistency. You don't really know what they're judging. So I think the judges do play a role in it. However, it's the dunkers. The dunkers has to be better. It can't just be on the judge. You do gotta get 'em something better to judge, but the judges have not been great. Would love to see some of the guys we just named as the judges. I think that helps it take a step up, in my opinion.
Yeah.
That's a wrap from this episode of the Draymond Green Show. You can still check this episode out wherever you get your podcasts. You wanna run something back, go check it out. You know to go check our YouTube channel out. Subscribe if you haven't. Next time. Peace.
