Draymond GreenForward, Golden State Warriors

Draymond Green Relives the Iconic 2011 Carrier Classic On Navy Ship With Michigan State

6 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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1:15

In this solo recollection, Draymond Green narrates his experience at the 2011 Carrier Classic, a one‑of‑a‑kind college basketball game played on the deck of a San Diego aircraft carrier. He describes the surprise of President Obama’s unexpected appearance, the visionary role of Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis and Coach Tom Izzo in conceiving the event, and the logistical oddities of playing basketball outdoors on a moving ship—wind affecting shots and slippery court decals. Green also shares a personal anecdote about defying the usual Nike‑Jordan shoe policy to wear his preferred "cool gray 11" sneakers, highlighting the tension between brand mandates and player preference. Overall, he emphasizes that while the on‑court play was hampered, the historic setting and atmosphere made the event unforgettable.

Chapters

Can you take us through how you found out about that and what it was like playing outdoors in a once in a lifetime type event? Number one, President Obama was there. They was telling us like, "Yo, President Obama's coming. We don't know how he's getting on the boat. Is he coming from submarine? Is he landing on the boat? How is this happening?" I don't know where he came from, but he appeared. Our athletic director, Mark Hollis, who would just come up with these crazy ass ideas. And he comes up with this aircraft carrier idea. And Coach Izzo was talking to me about it like a year beforehand. Like, "Man, we gonna play on the aircraft carrier in San Diego." Like, "What?" I started looking up what an aircraft carrier looked like. I'm like, "Oh man, this is nuts. How this gonna work?" What I will say is the idea was incredible. The experience was fantastic. Unfortunately, the basketball wasn't great. Every now and then the wind would take your shot. The decals on the court would get a little slippery. So the actual gameplay, the game itself wasn't that incredible, but the experience and overall was amazing. I got to hoop in the cool gray 11s. Coach Izzo wouldn't let us play in Jordans. No chance. Obviously Jordan is owned by Nike, but if you know anything about how the operation runs, Nike schools want you to play in Nikes. Not Jordans. So I didn't put 'em on. I had on my green and white shoes right before the tip-off. I ran in the locker room sprinting, threw my cool grays on, I run back out and Coach Izzo just looked at me. And he didn't stop me, but he said something about it later. But I'm like, "Coach, like, I gotta hoop in the cool gray 11s. Like, man, I need that." Yeah.