Draymond Green Reacts To Steve Kerr's New Yorker Article, NBA Lottery Changes & NBA Playoffs

What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. On today's show, we'll dive into an extensive and insightful Steve Kerr profile in The New Yorker, the Rookie of the Year results, the controversial new NBA Draft Lottery anti-tanking proposal, and of course, we have to talk the most important thing in any NBA season. It's the NBA playoffs. So let's get right into it. [MUSIC] If you care about your energy, your skin, and aging well, listen up. Symbiotica is a supplement that is clean, liposomal, science-backed, and actually absorbable. One staple is NAD+. It has the best orange vanilla flavor. It supports cellular energy, healthy aging, and gives your skin that radiant, even tone. You just stir it into your drink. And for strength and performance, they have Advanced Creatine. It helps with recovery, sustained energy during high-intensity workouts, and focus. You can use these everywhere, whether you're traveling, at the gym, or just running around. Cymbiotika makes wellness effortless. Go to cymbiotika.com/draymondgreen to get 20% off plus free shipping. That's C-Y-M-B-I-O-T-I-K-A.com/draymondgreen for 20% off plus free shipping. First off, I wanna talk about, you know, some of the things that Steve said about myself. From his interview in The New Yorker. Like I said, he's the best defensive player I've ever seen. And that's saying a lot given that I've played with Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. And I will add to that list Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Incredible, incredible defenders. And so, however, I'll continue on. Draymond, he can guard any action, any position, any player. And he can also blow up the play behind the play if he's not involved in the action because of his brain, his speed, and his reach. Number one, for him to say that about me, and you know, he said something similar before, and I add in those names of Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Not that I'm sitting here saying I'm a better defender than Tim Duncan or David Robinson or Scottie Pippen or Dennis Rodman for that matter. This is not my opinion, but I'm speaking of, these are guys that Steve played with. You know, and for him to say that I am the best defensive player he's ever seen, I'm forever grateful for that because, you know, I love the game of basketball. I love the history of basketball. And anytime, you know, for a kid from Saginaw, Michigan, for someone with the resume of Steve Kerr, you know, Steve Kerr is one of the best winners in NBA history. You know, a guy who's won 9 NBA championships as a coach and player combined. Mm-hmm. —there's not many people qualified to say as much as Steve can say about the NBA. He's just done it all from every— at every level. And so I don't take this lightly. Like, I, you know, to sit back and pop up on my phone and I read this, like, whoa. Yeah. You know, because you have the ideas of who you think you are, you know, and like who you believe you are. And ultimately you must have those beliefs. But at the end of the day, for someone with the resume of Steve Kerr to speak about me in that way, to stamp me in that way, to vouch for me in that way, it's surreal. It's surreal to see your name. Again, I'm just a kid from Saginaw that had dreams of making it to the NBA. And to be mentioned, say, "Yo, he's the best I've ever seen." Like, "Whether I'm the best you've ever seen or not, that's for you to debate, but that means the world to me." So I'm forever grateful and I don't take that lightly. And you know, it's things like that that keep you going. You know what I'm saying? Like I want to continue to add to that defensive resume. Hopefully I can add to it this year, but I want to continue to add to that. You know, I want to continue to do that at an extremely high level, you know? And so I'm forever grateful for that. He said, I don't know that he'll coach, I think he's a really good-hearted person with an incredible brain. But if he wants to coach, he's gonna have to learn how to control some of that emotion, that desire, and that fire that burns within him. It's not an easy thing to do. You know, as far as this statement goes, I think, you know, the emotion of a— as a player and the emotion as a coach are two totally different things. Yeah. In saying that, I've never coached. And so I'm not shooting this down. I'm just saying the emotion of a player and the emotion of a coach are two totally different things. And what I do understand, that if I do want to coach, I can't have the same emotion as a coach that I have in playing the game. But I also don't have that emotion in— Many other things that I do in life as I do when I'm playing a game, you know? So I do understand that if I was to coach, that that is something that I would have to be certain of. But I'm pretty certain that I could do that. I feel pretty confident that I can do that. Needless to say, 1000% accurate on that. He also said, this year we had a major blowout in December. He's such a unique person. There's things he's done that I can never forgive him for. And yet I will do anything for him. When you spend 14 years with someone, when you've had the runs that we've had, playing the role that I've had to play and being who I've had to be, some things like that are gonna happen. You know, where he's like, yo, there's some things he's done that I can never forgive him for. I think I have an idea what some of those things are. But I think that goes on both sides of it, right? Like I think when you look at our tenure and things that's happened, everything hasn't just been one way. You know, it hasn't just been like, "Oh man, Draymond did this and Steve's mad." You know, I think for myself, there's things that he's done or said that I could never get past, right? I won't get into those things because I think it's unnecessary. And yet I sit on this podcast daily and talk about it, speak about his greatness, speak about how much I don't have interest in playing for another coach outside of Steve Kerr. Speak about how important he's been to the makeup, to the build of what we've become. How important he's been in keeping it all together. You think of last year, how he always know the right thing to say. Those things don't change for me. I think when I take a step back and I look at my career, I definitely have some gripes about him over the course of his coaching tenure that I'll never be able to move past. Mm-hmm. But I think that's probably with any relationship. You know, I think that's like with anyone, like anyone that you have a close relationship with and it's gotten testy at times, or, you know, it's gone bad. Like even if it hasn't, then maybe you just have something that you're holding in about that person, right? But I think that's with any relationship, you know? And so what I'd say about that is, That's mutual, you know? And I don't take that any way at all. Like, there's a list of things that I can tell you. You know, speaking of this December thing, I share my feelings on that and what I felt about that and why I got outta there. Because it wasn't a situation that I think I could win in. And not that it's about winning and losing, but it was a situation that wasn't gonna get better for me. And to be honest, it was a misunderstanding of what he thought was going on and what wasn't going on that kind of led to him blowing up on me. And you know, I said what I had to say back and then he went crazier and crazier. And the look that I saw in his eyes, I'm like, "I should leave." Like, this is not— that thing had me question, you know, I spoke to him after that and it was like, "Yeah, I don't even, I don't think you like me." Yeah. Like, I don't think you, like, I don't think you've ever liked me, if I'm honest. Like, he cried. Like, really? And so in saying that, like, I think that thing goes both ways. However, what he's meant to me in my life, what he's taught me in my life, I was just telling him in our exit interview, the thing, like, I've won my whole life. At every level, I've been a winner. The things that he's taught me about being a winner, to enhance that winner toolkit, if you will, I'm not sure where else I could have got that. I played for Tom Izzo, one of the greatest winners in college basketball history. The things he taught me about winning, and Steve just took that to a completely different level, and especially showing me things about— Draymond Green. This level and winning. Like, I could never repay him for that. It's so important to who I've become. And so when I sit here and I say like, yeah, there's things that he's done that I could never forgive him for, that I could never look past. Well, I could look past them because we continue to move forward. But make no mistake about it, I'm not who I am today without Steve Kerr. Mm-hmm. Like the impact that he's had on my career, on my life, I'll forever be grateful. You know, like sometimes I struggle to put it in words because I'd be explaining something for hours. You know, it's to have him as a coach. Yeah. One thing I was telling him like that I've learned from him, his patience is crazy. And it's small things that I watch that he didn't even know I watched. Like I watched him for years. We get into a hotel at 3 o'clock in the morning. He grabbed it, he's the first person off the bus, right? Like he's in front of the bus. He grabs his key and he's the first person at the elevator. He hits the elevator and players walk up, anybody walk, this guy steps to the side and let everybody go. Like that type of patience. And I've watched that for years and just been like, man, I need to reach that level of patience. And it's not that, oh man, he moved to the side and let players go, or he moved to the side and— it's not that. If that's what you're taking away from what I'm saying, you're completely missing the point. It's just that he always knows the right thing to do. He always knows the right thing to say. Moving to the side like that and like, yo, the players go, So many coaches would just go, "I'm the head coach. Fuck I'm waiting for somebody for?" And guess what? Not one person would be like, "Oh, Steve's wrong for getting on that elevator first." But it's things like that of where I've just watched him for years and been like, "Man." Like, I've picked up on all of those things from him, you know? And so, and just being a better man, like, Obviously basketball player, all of those things. Like, as much as he's done for me in basketball, a part of me think he's hindered me in my career and what I could have become. But what he's also helped me become, like, you gotta take the good with the bad, man. You know, when I think of who I was offensively as a player and who I became, I think a part of that is due to him. I don't hold that against him. I'm forever grateful that he still put me in a position to be successful and that I could become Draymond Green despite my offensive role on our team. You know, when KD came from 2016 on, I have not had a play in our playbook, not a single play that we run for me in our playbook. Since 2016. You think that would hinder someone as an offensive player? Of course. So at times I go home and I think about my career and I'm happy as hell of what I've been able to build. But at times, sometimes I sit there and think, what could I really have been if I stayed true to my game and what I really was? But that just wasn't— that wasn't what was in the cards for me. Yeah. So I don't sit and be like, oh man, like, I fucking hate Steve because of that. No, it's one of my gripes. But if you're gonna take one gripe and not be able to move past it for all the other things, then you're shallow as a person. That says more about you as a person than it does about Steve or whoever else in that instant. It says more about you. So I've always just moved past that and moved on and whatever my situation, made the best of it and became who I became. So I said all of that to say, I get exactly what he's saying. I think that goes both ways, but I give my right arm for him. No question. For what he's been to me, him and his family. They're family to me, you know? And like I said, we've had our differences, of course. Like he said, he's a unique person. I'm not the easiest person to coach 'cause I have an opinion. My opinion's gonna make sense and I'm not afraid to voice that opinion, right? Right. Like all of these things, like, I get it. But man, I wouldn't trade it for nothing in the world. There's not a single other coach that you say, well, if you could pick this, nah, it's that guy. It's that guy. That's the guy. So yeah, I get it. But I'm forever grateful for Steve Kerr, what he's brought. Yeah. To me in my life, I could never, I couldn't repay him. You know, obviously our success playing the way I played, becoming the player I become for this organization, for this dynasty, which ultimately helped him as well, I could never repay him. So forever grateful. Moving on in the article, you know, for those of you that don't know, Steve Kerr's dad was killed when he was 8 or 9 years old. By the Islamic Jihad, or when he was president of American University of Beirut, which he said, you know, because of that, he's had a hard time with this war in Iran. He used basketball to grieve the loss of his father. You know, I can relate to that. Not that I lost my father, but that, man, so many things I've gone through in my life, and I just go to the basketball court. You know, you be going through something, you go to the basketball court at 3 o'clock in the morning. 'Cause I can't sleep, well, I'm gonna go get some shots up. You know, like I can relate to how you grieve and you just pour it all into basketball. I think a lot of that, a lot of our journey is that. You look at the interview with Michael Beasley on Club Shay Shay. You can't tell me that brother didn't grieve and just pour it all into basketball. It's all coming out now. Yeah. I think that's for a lot of us. You don't know what to do. There's no counseling, there's no therapy. You turn to, you know what your therapy is? Your therapy is your sanctuary. You know what your sanctuary is? It's the basketball gym. So when he said that, like I understood that. Everybody speaks, you know, in this article when the tour is on, everybody speak of Steve being at a, —acrosswords with his contract and Golden State Warriors coming off a disappointing season. You know, he openly acknowledged that coaching teams have natural expiration dates. He might be near his. However, what's keeping him from walking away is his loyalty to Steph and myself. He doesn't want to abandon us while we can still compete because I think we still can compete. Obviously, you need things to fall in place. You need things to go right. Health and all that stuff is important. Like that means a lot. And I think we all envision one day going out together. That'd be incredible. I think that's what we all would love to see. You know, but I think a lot of people saying like he's weighing legacy and he's weighing if he's burnt out. When I speak of burnout, a lot of people tend to forget, man, Steve Kerr's had 8 or 9 surgeries in a 2-year span. Wow. He had 8 or 9 surgeries. So you think of the travel, the days that he walks in and everybody may not see it because he puts on a face like no other, but I've been with him for 12 years. I know when he putting on a face. I can tell when he ain't feeling good. Cold towel on his neck, different things. Like he struggled with that for the last 10, 11 years. Mm-hmm. I think people tend to forget that, of his health, traveling, all the stuff. Like, he could be reaching burnout, but he ain't your normal health and he's just gone to where he is at. That brother went, has been going through it for 11 years, daily migraines. And I don't know if you ever had a migraine, but my God, could you wake up He said, Draymond, many years ago, he said, man, can you wake up? Can you imagine waking up every day with a migraine headache? He's coached through that. Sometimes sweats and all of that. Like, I think people forget his journey. So let me remind you, he's coached through that. Could you imagine waking up every day with a migraine? I couldn't. He's coached through that, you know. So when you talk about burnout, it's not burnout from basketball. This dude love basketball. It could be burnout from all of that stuff. It could be burnout from the media attention. It could be burnout from things you have to deal with in the organization when you're leading an organization in the position he's in. It's all of those things. It's not basketball. It's not just coaching. There's so much more to the job than just coaching the game, coaching practice. There's so much more to the job. Yeah. Steve Kerr is a true leader, so he embodies all of those parts. He don't just pass them off, he lives it. You know, lastly, his love for coaching. One thing I can tell you, he still love it. I can tell you that. I work with him every day. He still love it. But only if it's meaningful, he said. And I know people wonder like, what does that mean? Is that championships? And I can tell you, no, it's not just championships. It's being able to lead and do things the way he believes they should be done. Obviously putting together a chance and still trying to win. Of course, he's a winner. You're gonna wanna win. Still being able to coach up players and then not just being, oh, the organization wants this. You know, like that's what he means when he's talking about meaningful. It's meaningful in his role. You know? And I know that he would only do it if that is the case. You know? And if those were to fade, that's it. You know, he'd be done. He's been, I thought that was an incredible article in the New Yorker. I thought he was very open and honest. I appreciated it from all levels. Not just the good things, the things that he said that most people would be like, "Oh man, that's awful for you." No, it's not. I'm just fine. You know, but I think in summarizing this whole article is this is Steve Kerr. And this is the guy we've been coached by for 12 years. This is the guy I've been able to build an amazing relationship with. And I'm happy he did this article. Happy he spoke about all the things he spoke about. And I'll be happy as hell if he returns here as a coach. But nonetheless, as I've always said, it's nothing but love. Love. And gratitude and appreciation. We'll see when this decision comes out over the next week or so. I think we'll all be expecting it. But what a hell of a guy and what a hell of a run. And I'm forever grateful to have learned so much from Steve Kerr. You know, the playoff push is heating up. The tournament hoops are here, right? There's nothing like the excitement of every bucket, steal, highlight play. But you know what makes it even better? PrizePicks. Seriously, every pick, every win feels that much sweeter. People are amazed at how simple the PrizePicks app is. Just pick more or less on 2 to 6 player stat projections. Whichever sport you pick instantly makes watching the games way more fun. A favorite feature? Early payouts. If your player gets off to a high start, you can cash out before the game even ends. And with stacks, you can pick the same player up to 3 times in a lineup. 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And the quality really surprised me. Everything feels soft, breathable, and actually holds up. Lately, I've been reaching for this lightweight matching set. I wore it on a long walk and then straight to brunch, and it just works for everything. Shop now at fabletics.com/draymond to get 70 to 80% off everything when you sign up as a new VIP. Take a quick style quiz and be sure to select Draymond when prompted to unlock your 70 to 80% off. This is a limited time offer, so don't wait. Again, that's fabletics.com/draymond for 70 to 80% off. Everything as a new VIP. Moving on, we got the voting results for the Rookie of the Year. Cooper Flagg edges out Con Canupel. It was the second closest finish since the current voting format started during the '02-'03 campaign. Cooper Flagg earned 12 more first place votes than Con Canupel did and beat him by only 26 total points. Only Scottie Barnes' win over Evan Mobley during the 2021 season was a closer finish. Listen, I thought Colin Kanupe would win it. I'm not surprised that Cooper Flagg did win it. What I will say is I think it's shitty what happened to Kanupe in this instance because I'm pretty certain he got punished for his play in the play-in games. And Cooper Flagg didn't have an opportunity to play in play-in games. So I think to get punished It reminds me of when I got suspended in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. I lost a whole game check for a game that I don't get paid for playing in. I lost an entire game check for getting suspended for a game that I don't get paid to play in. And I thought that was pretty shitty. That's what this reminds me of in a different sense, but he's getting penalized for a game that The other guy team wasn't good enough to get to. He's getting penalized for his play in it. And he helped all season get that team to it. Now I do think play-in games should be a part of the results though. But I think as voters, what I would have to sit back and say, but this other guy didn't even play in it because his team was so bad. If he was that great, maybe he could do, maybe that's how I would vote. In saying that, I do think play-in games are not playoff games and they should be a part of the voting. And so ultimately I think Concanuppa lost a few votes from the play-in and he got edged out. Congratulations to Cooper Flagg. Well deserved. Gotta play better. You know, those are meaningful games and he didn't play well. Also don't think his coach did him a favor. You know, you sitting him out, he's been great for you all year. You sitting him out, you're in a need 3 situation. He's not on the floor. I think his coach didn't do him any favors in winning it. As well. Needless to say, shit happens. And listen, I think gotta tip your hat to Cooper Flagg. He has some games down the stretch that I think won some people over. Con Canopel on the other end, games down the stretch that I think he lost people. You know, you left that door open, Cooper Flagg closed it. Needless to say, they both will have great careers. But I think it was pretty cool to see the closest race that we've seen in a long time outside of the Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes one, which wasn't up for debate as much as this one. And so I thought, hey man, it's unfortunate for Conner Kanuppa, but meaningful games, you gotta play better. I think he should take that into the summer motivated as hell. Yeah. And see what he can do with it. The NBA proposes a new lottery system to combat tanking. Lottery spans from 14 to 16 teams. There's a relegation zone. Bottom 3 teams get fewer odds for the number 1 pick. Teams outside of the bottom 3 get better lottery odds. 3 balls versus 2. Play-in teams also receive lottery balls, varies by seed. No team can win number 1 pick in back-to-back years. No team can get 3 straight top 5 picks. Picks 12 through 15 can no longer be protected. Listen, I think doing something to combat tanking, I think is great for the NBA because ultimately there's 30 NBA teams and there should be 30 teams trying to win games. What happened down the stretch of this season, the last few months of the season was pathetic. It was pathetic for the NBA. As a player in the NBA, it was pathetic to play against those teams. It, it was really a joke. NBA teams can also punish tanking by reducing odds or moving picks. And just so we know, the system is a trial run that will run through 2029. Listen, how this affects people. No team could get 3 straight top 5 picks. The San Antonio Spurs as we know them would not exist. There would be no Dylan Harper. They had Wimby as a number 1 pick, followed up by Stephon Castle as a top 5 pick. Yeah. Stephon Castle being top 5 pick, that puts, that takes them out so they don't get Dylan Harper. I think this is a good thing. I think this is great. That one right there is great. No team can win back-to-back number 1 picks. I think that is great. No team should be able to win. Playing teams you didn't make the playoffs, you should receive lottery balls. I agree with that. Teams outside of the bottom 3 get better lottery odds. I don't know how I, if I love that one, but I do love the fact that if you're the bottom 3 teams, you get relegated. There should be an onus on trying to be better. Ultimately, the goal is to win games, not tank, not lose, to lose and lose. No, the goal should be to get better. And if these front office people are as good as they say they are, hey, you don't get the top 2 pick, you don't get the top 3 pick, you should still be able to draft while at 6 or 7. If you are as great as you say you are, right? So this will put onus on people to be as good as they say they are. Picks 12 through 15 can no longer be protected. I don't know that I agree with that. Tomato, tomato. Moving picks and punishing teams for tanking. I agree with that. I think this should be happening. So overall, expanding the lottery from 14 to 16 teams. Listen, overall, I think this is great for the NBA. I don't know that I love expanding the lottery from 14 to 16 teams, but overall I think this is great. I think, you know, you got, you, you're gonna have expansion teams. So that could be why it's expanding to 16 teams. You're looking at 2 expansion teams. You know, I think that's, you know, these, these are good things. More importantly, I can appreciate the NBA taking this crisis, if you will, head on and trying to put things in place to prevent against it. It was pretty shitty playing against those intentionally shitty teams. So thank you, Adam. After this break, we'll go around the association, talk about some of the series I've been most locked in on. We'll be right back after this. This show is sponsored by Liquid IV. I am very particular with what I put in my body. 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Get yours in store and online at www.5HourEnergy.com or Amazon today. Now we move around the association. First up, we got the Thunder sweep the Suns 4-0. And this was kind of expected. As Shea Gildress-Alexander Instagram caption was kind of expected. But man. Shai is a cold-blooded killer. This man gets on the podium all series long, shows that he's completely unbothered by what Dylan Brooks is doing, shouts this man out, says nothing but great things about him when everybody's wanting to tear him down. Doesn't do it at all. And then completely annihilates him in an Instagram post. Everybody wants to be villainous until the brooms come out and the dust settles and you realize who the villain is. On the back of Dylan Brooks' jersey, Dylan Brooks is number 3 for the Phoenix Suns, on the back of his jersey, Cancún on 3. 1, 2, 3. To show no level of being bothered whatsoever, to at no point, to completely annihilating this guy in an Instagram post. I almost rather you just talk about me in the press conference than that. Like this is just cold-blooded, man. Like what a bar. But needless to say, make no mistake about it. I thought the Suns had a successful year. Yeah, they got swept, which was to be expected being that they were in the AC. Successful year in what most thought would be a rebuild year. I think Dylan Brooks established himself as even more than what he was before. I think in the games that Draymond Green did play in, he's shown that he's improved. And more importantly, I think they're at the beginning of setting a culture. Yeah. Which is ultimately what I know Matt Ishpey and Jordan Ott and Mateen Cleaves and Brian Gregory, which is ultimately what I know that they're setting out to do. You know, and I think they're at the beginning of that, but a very great start to that. So, you know, the Thunder obviously moving on to the next round, you know, without J Dub probably for the next round. They played without J Dub a lot. Throughout this year. So I think they're equipped for it. However, I also think whoever they play in the next round, they could, they'll still be fine. You start to get to the conference finals and I think it matters more. If I'm the OKC Thunder, I'm only targeting J Dub getting back for the conference finals, believing that I could beat these other teams whether he plays or not. However, his health will be important to them ultimately repeating, like, You know, I think everybody's like, oh, they can win without him. Like, yeah, to a certain degree, but you're gonna need him at some point, I believe. Spurs take the series versus the Blazers 4-1. They'll play in the Western Conference Semis for the first time since 2017. Shaq called Wimby the first perfect big man that's ever been created. Quite honestly, man, Wimby's, it's unreal. The way he moves, he's starting to move more and more fluid. He's starting to understand the game at a higher and higher level on both sides of the ball. What he does defensively matched by his gravity on the offensive end. You know, I, like, it's unbelievable. I saw Fox made a comment where he said his gravity, the only person with gravity like that is Steph. Which also shows you how incredible Steph is. It takes a guy that's 7'5" to, be able to move the way he does, be a live threat at the rim over anyone, to have the type of gravity that Steph Curry has. I think when you look at this, it's a huge compliment to Steph. It's an even bigger compliment to Wemby. But the way he's playing, you know, I think everybody's speaking on their youth. The way he— he's not playing like a rookie. I mean, excuse me, a rookie in the playoffs. He's not playing like this is his first time in the playoffs and you know, he's in his third year and like, it don't look like that. He's looking like a seasoned vet out there in these playoffs and that's scary for everyone else. Stephon Castle looks like a seasoned vet out there in these playoffs. And then De'Aaron Fox, who had an incredible fourth quarter to close out the Blazers, 13 points on 6 for 8 from the field, zero turnovers. Fox is like, Sometimes the third option, sometimes the fourth option, sometimes the first option. What that says about me, says to me is, is this team just wanna win. They don't care what it look like. They don't care who does what, who gets what. Whoever's got it going. Dylan Harper the other day, a few games ago, 30, 33 points, 30 plus points. Stephon Castle had 33, Dylan had 30. Like they don't care. Yeah. They don't, and that is the secret sauce, man. So this team right here, like you gotta worry about them and the youth. Yeah, they'll be faced with some adversity and have to overcome the youth, but they look like they can do it. They really look like they can do it. You know, Mitch over there, he ain't acting like this is his first playoff series. They looking like they can really do it. So, you know, speaking about OKC and having to get healthy, yeah, they're gonna have to get healthy because if they run up against these Spurs without J Dub, it's gonna be tough anyway. Without J Dub, I don't know. I do think it's a foregone conclusion though that Spurs and the Thunder will face off in the Western Conference Finals. 76ers extends series 3-2 headed to game 6 back in Philly versus the Celtics. 113-97 win in game 5. Joel Embiid went off for 33 points on 52% shooting. I think it's great that Joel Embiid had a great game. I think it's great that he was able to force a game 6 and push the series back to Philly. However, can he do that over and over again? Right? Like you had that great game, you're feeling good. Can he produce that same effort? Because again, As I said, when I was speaking on Joel and the Sixers before last game, the person who takes the biggest hit is VJ Escomb. You know, you see VJ Escomb had 10 points. I think he shot like 8 shots. He takes the biggest hit. So if Joel isn't producing at this level and VJ Escomb can't get going, then that leaves them like 20 to 30 points down from his production and what he would be doing. And if Joel can't get back to this level game after game, but it was great to see Joel out there. Have a great game. I think, you know, with all he's been through, we obviously know he is a great player, but you know, he has to have great games like that coming in and outta the lineup because everyone else just can't fit in. And the style of play, it immediately changes to the style of play when Joel's on the floor and everybody else just can't get there as how Joel can get there. So when he's in the lineup and he's not having huge games like this, ultimately they won't have a chance to win. The Knicks takes the Hawks down 126 to 97 in game 5 to take a 3-2 lead. 2 lead. Jalen Brunson goes off for his best game, 39 points on 65% shooting and 8 assists. CJ McCollum, which I warned y'all about last podcast, has his worst game of the series, 6 points on 30% shooting. Listen, when I said this last game, this has no hate on CJ. I've just seen this where CJ's been at it a while now, and when he's expected to do too much, it can get harder on him. And when I was watching those games, games 1 through 3, games 1 through 4, he's playing so well and every play starting to be a run for CJ. And I just don't think that's the best way for CJ to be successful. I think you have to get some of those guys downhill. So I'll say this again, Dyson Daniels half the time isn't even guarding Jalen Brunson. If he's not guarding Jalen Brunson and can't lock Jalen Brunson down, I don't know why he's out there. You need Buddy Hield out there. Corey Kispert, another awful game. He ain't made for this right now. Buddy Hield needs to be out there in a do or die game, game 6. Would love to see the Hawks put Buddy Hield out there. I think it can help them out a lot. Was good to see JJ get going a little bit more. That lob JK caught, oh my God. I've thrown him a lob like that before. And when you think he can't get it, That one was crazier. That was insane. Unbelievable. Over Mitchell Robinson, floating, ducking the backboard. Incredible. Needless to say, KAT, they really have to figure out the high post with KAT. I don't think they're doing a good enough job of denying him out. He's catching every catch inside the 3-point line. Mm-hmm. Deny the catch out, force that catch higher, make him catch that outside the 3-point line. It gives everybody else a better range of work in that. Also, you're guarding him with J.K., you're guarding him with Mo Gay, you're guarding him with these smaller guys. Their advantage is the further they can push him out, they're more to their advantage. Now they can press up and affect him more out there. But Cat started to take these guys to the post and take them down. Unfortunately, I think they're doing a little bit too much gambling and you just gotta make 'em score over you. I think they're also fouling a little bit too much. Make 'em score. If he scores, you push the ball, you get the ball out, you run the ball back down. Sometimes a, a made basket ain't the worst thing. You can get the ball out fast and now you're getting out in transition. You're forcing Cat to get back on defense. For sure. Forcing Jalen Brunson to get back on defense. The New York Knicks is not a great transition defense team. So even on a made basket, it does not hurt you. Filing and allowing them to get back and get their defense set up, that hurts you. So I think they need to do a better job there. But like I said, I still think they got Buddy Hill on the bench and, and he's better served in the game. I just don't think Dyson Daniels is giving you enough during this series. Mm-hmm. Defensively to offset how he clogs up the offense for the other guys. And in turn, I think it's costing them. Scored 97 points. That ain't gonna win you many games, scoring 97 points. So we'll see if they make any adjustments. But Buddy Hield is one. Getting CJ off the ball some is another one. Letting CJ not, you know, come off down screens and then into a quick ball screen. Different things like that, I think ultimately helps. CJ moving forward. The Nuggets extend the series 3-2 to take game 6 against the T-Wolves, 125 to 113. A win in game 5. Joker gets his second triple-double of the series, 27, 16, and 12 on 60% shooting. I told y'all, yes, Rudy Gobert was bothering him. Yes, Joker can still go out and make those same shots, but I'm gonna tell you where it differs. It's different when you're guarding and Joker's involved in actions with Anthony Edwards and all of that. He's getting tired on the other end. There's no one offensively that can really try to take advantage of Joker defensively now on the Timberwolves. And so Rudy Gobert can be playing the same defense, but when you can't quite score at the same level, when the team isn't as demonstrative as they were, that defense doesn't equal the same thing. Right? Like, you're not making a guy think twice. He's not getting down because the game's just going their way. And so I warn you that without Ant-Man, it not only affects their team offensively, but it actually affects Rudy Gobert's defense. Because oftentimes when you can't score the basketball, what naturally happens? The defense lets down. So all of a sudden guys aren't in gaps. Yeah. You know, when he's locking— I wouldn't say locking down, but when he was giving Joker a tough time throughout this series, guys are in gaps, guys are connected, but you're doing well on the offensive end, it transfers. When it doesn't quite carry over because you're not doing so well on the offensive end and now it's getting frustrating, it also makes it harder for the defense. And so I think ultimately this affects them in more ways than just the offensive end. I think ultimately this affects Rudy Gobert a lot more than people will realize. It's not the same defense if you can't produce the same offense. For example, I could have a great defensive game last year against the Timberwolves. Without Steph Curry out there and you're not producing offensively, some point the bottom falls out and it's just not as good. And that's what kind— that's what happens a lot when guys don't have their main stars. Yeah. When teams don't have their main stars, the defense takes a hit because the body language takes a hit, the resiliency takes a hit, the belief takes a hit, and ultimately the defense takes a hit. So it's not surprising to me that Joker got 27, 16, and 12 on 60% shooting. And it wouldn't surprise me if he get 35, 20, and 10 on 60% shooting the next game because the belief takes a hit and ultimately affects your defense. So, you know, we'll see what happens there. We'll see what adjustment Coach Finch can make. They better close it out in Game 6 because going back to Game 7 in Denver, it's not, not looking good. And ultimately, I don't think they can close out in Game 6. Before we get outta here, Coach David Alderman had a bizarre press conference, a post-game exchange with a reporter. I didn't quite understand it. I thought it was funny and worth mentioning. You make of it what you wanna make of it. Your opinion on it is as good as mine. Looked like he was a little in his feelings. I don't know. What I do know is that's a wrap from this episode of the Draymond Green Show. I will catch up with y'all soon. Enjoy these playoff games. Till 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 want to 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. Video production and creative design by Kirk Courtney, Tim Meekle, Lauren Vieira, and Evan O'Brien. Special thanks to the team at The New Media and the team at Odyssey. Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Hillary Shuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Rose, Colin Gaynor, and Jake Gally. Goodbye.