Knicks Get a Banner, Wemby is Back, + Joe Lacob Responds to a Fan

The NBA on Prime is back this Friday with another doubleheader. It's the Sixers and Knicks followed by the Thunder and T-Wolves. Not a Prime member? Sign up for a 30-day free trial. Coverage starts Friday at 6:30 PM Eastern only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See amazon.com/amazonprime for details. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. On today's show, I'll get into our recent late game struggles despite Steph's greatness, share my thoughts on Cooper Flagg's 40, and even more so than his 40 ball, uh, just the way he's been playing as of late and how that's coincided with how Dallas has played as of late. Uh, also AD being back on the court. Um, and it happened a little before AD got back on the court, but it's continued to uptick since AD being back on the court. Uh, we'll talk Wimby versus OKC, but also we'll talk Wimby versus the Knicks, NBA Cup, and much more. So let's get right into it. Uh, Dub's recent Late game struggles. Because it hasn't been just total game struggles. I think all year really, not just as of late. I think we have lost games that we should have won. You know, it started back early in the season in Milwaukee, losing to a Milwaukee team without Giannis. And it's just kind of been this trickle-down effect. It's been this trickle-down effect all year. And it's just gotten worse and worse. You know, you have these great opportunities, Steph going for 39, Steph going for 48, you know, where you need to capitalize on these wins and we're not doing that. And I think when it, I think in the NBA, people don't realize the margin in between losing and winning, the margin in between being a good team and a bad team.— is a lot slimmer than people think. I think, you know, yes, there are some exceptions to every rule, but I think most people think like, "Oh man, the great team is here and the bad team is here." And it's not quite that. It's like the great team is here and the bad team is here, but the bad team just don't know what to do in order to get here. However, they're talented. It's the NBA. Everybody can play. Everybody have NBA coaching staffs. So they can make plays, they can stay in the game, but ultimately you're not closing. It's because you don't have good habits. And right now I think, you know, we've been a team that's had bad habits, you know, and— Yeah. The bad habits, they may not show up in the first half, or at least to you, or they may not show— excuse me, first quarter, second quarter. But when you have bad habits, they show up in the most inopportune times. And when it's time to win and you've built bad habits, those bad habits are going to show because What we always say is don't be results-driven, be process-driven. And when you have bad habits, your process isn't right. And so in turn, ultimately at some point your results go wrong because the process isn't right. And so I think there's quite a few things that we need to get better at. But overall in saying that, I think when I say again, the margins in between losing and winning in this league, they're very slim. So when you look at our record at 13-14, I would say we've probably lost 7 to 8 games that we should have won. And all of a sudden you win 5 of those 7 or 8, and you're sitting here at 18 and 9, and it's a totally different ball game. Yeah. But again, when you're losing, it never feels that way. It always feels like you're far, far away. And I know we not far, far away, but when you build bad habits and you're not locked in on the details, you're also further away than you think because you're not doing the things that win. And so what are some of those things that we're not doing that wins? Well, number one is taking care of the ball. And I raise my hand, I am leading that charge in a drastic way of turning the ball over. Gotta take better care of the ball because with the way teams are playing now, everyone's crashing the glass to create more offensive possessions and to slow transition down. That's why so many teams crash the glass. A lot of teams are swarming to the ball to create turnovers. So if you're turning the ball over, teams are swarming and running and shooting threes. If you're turning the ball over, you can't get your defense set. If you're turning the ball over, you're not getting a shot at the rim, which is not creating chances to get offensive rebounds, which isn't keeping them out of transition. It's actually putting them in transition. Against a 4, with a 4-on-3, 5-on-3, 4-on-2, 3-on-2, 3-on-1. And it's putting us in these disadvantaged situations. So most importantly, need to take care of the ball. And that starts with me. That starts with me. Defensively, when you're on a run in the NBA, you have to make it hard for people to break that run. You don't make it hard for people to break the run. Every time you start to go on a run, they just break it. You can never build no momentum in this game. We play as a game of runs. Eventually they're gonna go on a run. So eventually if they're gonna go on a run and every time you're starting your run, they break it. That's one thing if they're working hard to get that bucket and they're putting you at a disadvantage. That's one thing. But when you're going on a run, you can't break your run giving up simple baskets. And I think we've done a lot of that, you know, of where we're making it too easy to break up our run. So then all of a sudden, what's an 8-0 run, you know, what should be a 12-0 run turns into an 8-0 run. And those 4 points make a difference in this league. 'Cause again, they catch you when you're least expecting it. And so there's just things like that that we have to do in order to clean this up. And I think we're more than capable of cleaning it up. We're right there. Like a lot of these games, we're right there and we're just losing them at the end. Yes, you have to figure that out. And I know we will figure that out. And I know we're capable. We got two guys that are closers, you know, so we are more than capable. Of figuring it out and we will figure it out. But like I said, it starts with me, my turnovers, that can't happen. We can't turn the ball over, we must be better. And I'll take that on the chin and we will be better, but gotta lock in on the details. Things that makes teams great. Yes, they got the talent, but the great teams are locked in on the small, minute details. If you can lock in on those details, it allows you to be a great team. It allows you to win at a very high clip in this league. And we will do that. It's also there. I know there's been a lot of talk about rotations. There's been a lot of talk about DMPs. Someone asked me the other night, they were like, yo, you guys need to build some consistency, this, that, and the other. And I was like, yeah. For sure, everyone needs consistency, but we haven't consistently been good. So if you haven't consistently been good and people say, oh, but you need to build consistency. Well, you have to— you build consistency with something that's working. If it's not working, you don't keep doing the same thing. You try to find what's working, what's going to work, find groups that work together. And until then, you're tweaking things. And so I see people like, oh man, Steve need to build consistency. For sure, of course, absolutely. Everyone wants consistency, but you don't want consistent shit. You want to be consistently getting better. And if you're not, you're making changes to try to make that happen. You're not going to keep doing the same thing. You keep doing what you're doing, you're going to keep getting what you're getting. And so I understand why there hasn't been the consistency or continuity that people have been speaking about. 'Cause you gotta find it that works. Then once you find something that work, yeah, then you don't go away from it. You then lean into that, but you gotta find what works first. And again, we're still figuring that out. Still early, 27 games in, plenty of time. But you wanna make the corrections now rather than later. You don't wanna put yourself up against the 8-ball. Make the corrections now. Yeah. And we can get through those things. Lastly on the Warriors, obviously a lot made of Joe Lacob responding to a fan email. On the email, Joe pretty much said, You can't be as frustrated as me. I am working on it. It's complicated, style of play, coaches' desires regarding players, league trends. Jimmy is not the problem. Listen, Joe is passionate as hell. You either gonna love his passion or you gonna hate it. Whether you love his passion or whether you hate it, the one thing you do know is the most important thing to Joe, and you will understand that at every step of the way, is winning. And if it's not working, if you're not winning, Joe has a problem. And if you're winning, it's fine. And you're rolling, he's rolling. If you're not winning, he is pissed. And that's just how Joe rolls. That's who he is. It's a large part of the reason this organization became winners, because you run by a winner. And so, it is what it is. You know, no one's in our organization is cracking from it. I think— Draymond Green. Again, when you've worked so long with someone, you know how they are. Like, you know what they're going, you know, you know what makes them tick, you know what pisses them off, right? So I don't think any of us are sitting there like, "Oh man, Joe said this." Like, quite honestly, Joe will say these things to your face. That's just who he is. So no harm, no foul. We continue to move. Should be frustrated. We fucking sucked thus far. It is frustrating and we gotta figure it out and we will figure it out. I have zero doubts about that. Coming up next after the break, I'll go around the association and talk NBA Cup Finals, Spurs versus Thunder, Cooper's flags, historic night, and if the Celtics should make a real run at taking the East. All that after this. Hey, Draymond here. The NBA on Prime is back this Friday with another thrilling doubleheader. It tips off with Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers headed up to Madison Square Garden to take on Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks. Then the action heads to the West as SGA and the Oklahoma City Thunder visit Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. And if you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30-day free trial to get started today. The Sixers and Knicks, the Thunder and T-Wolves. This Friday's matchups are electric. High stakes, big plays, and some of the league's brightest stars in action. Coverage starts this Friday at 6:30 PM Eastern, only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See amazon.com/amazonprime for details. And welcome back. As promised, we will move around the association first, starting with the Knicks versus Spurs NBA Cup Final recap. Jalen Brunson, Emirates NBA Cup. MVP, uh, scored 25 points. However, the award was not just for the championship game, but the entire NBA Cup, and Jalen was more than deserving. Led the NBA Cup in scoring, had another great game to seal the deal today. Uh, got a lot of help today, obviously. OG Anunoby played incredible. Jordan Clarkson played incredible. played incredible. Mitchell Robinson played incredible. Tyler Kolic played incredible. Got a lot of help today, but you put yourself in position for those guys to provide that help with the play of Jalen Bronson. And led them to an NBA Cup. I think, you know, I was very interested in seeing if the Knicks won, were the Knicks fans gonna act like they acted when they won in, a first round and second round playoff series and they're shutting the city streets down. I was wondering if they were going to do that tonight. I heard Spike. No, Spike said he don't want a banner, whereas Mike Brown was yelling about the banner. So I think there's a little confusion amongst Knicks Nation on what banner should be hung in Madison Square Garden. Um, if you think banners should be hung for the NCAA tournament, let us know at draymondgreen@audacy.com. But, you know, I think everybody's opinions differ. I'll be honest, when I was watching after they won, I was sitting there, I saw big smiles and I was like, that's dope. I was like, man, I wonder how close does that feeling feel to like winning the NBA championship? On one hand, I know it's a great feeling 'cause you won $500,000, $500,000 plus. So I know that feels great, but I wonder how close this feels to like that feeling. Needless to say, anytime you have the opportunity to win anything and, you know, win a trophy and money for that matter, I think we all want to win. But in saying that, I think the one thing that I noticed with the Knicks, especially under Mike Brown, is they push the ball way more. Anytime there's a change of possession, you see Mike Brown on the sideline like, run, run. You know, trying to get those guys to play faster. Naturally, Jalen Brown's play, excuse me, Jalen Brunson plays a slower game. Not that he's slow, he just slows everything down a bit. Carl Anthony Towns naturally play a slower game. So I think Mike Brown getting them to speed up is like ultimately knowing most of the time we're probably gonna slow it down. But when we got the opportunity to run, at least run, put pressure on the defense. If we ain't got nothing, we're gonna get it back to one of those guys. Game gonna slow down a bit anyway. But I think that's the one big thing that I've noticed. And then Mike Brown being willing to go away from the traditional lineups. He's really leaning into his bench, leaning into different guys on different nights, helping to be the guys. And it makes a difference for a team. Carl Anthony Towns goes down for a bit there, doesn't play, and Mitchell Robinson's ballin'. Yeah. You know, um, Mikal Bridges probably didn't play for majority, if any, of the fourth quarter. You know, those aren't normally moves that you would have seen made by the New York Knicks. You know, and sometimes you have to pull those strings in order to win games. And that showed tonight for the, for the, uh, New York Knicks. And how Mike Brown is approaching it with that roster and actually leaning into the depth that they have. So it's beautiful to see. Beautiful to see Jordan Clarkson playing the way he's playing on both sides of the basketball, being that spark plug off the bench. You know, again, Mike Brown using that and pushing that. You know, Deuce McBride has been one that's played a lot, you know, trying some other pieces. Like again, I think all of that stuff makes a difference when you're trying to win at a high rate. You have to ultimately see what works best in your team. I think Mike Brown is pulling those right strings and finding what works for that group. Also at the NBA Cup, obviously the loser were the Spurs. Wimby and the Spurs who looked great, just couldn't close it down the stretch. And then obviously, you know, with Wimby in and outta the lineup, is kind of playing two different styles. It caught up to him a little bit tonight. I thought in the first half, Wimby was a bit sped up, you know, where you only playing like 6 minutes in the first half. I think he was a little sped up and trying to get to it a little more. Rushed a few things. He's gotten away from rushing a bit, but I felt like, you know, and that can happen. Bigger game, larger stakes, you get a little sped up, you wanna do a little more. But nonetheless, that same Spurs team handed OKC their first, their second loss of the season just a couple days before. And everyone talked about, you know, is this a rivalry? And I loved Wimby's answer. He said, They're in a league of their own. This can't be a rivalry. But when both teams start winning, then it can be a rivalry. I love that answer because for so many years I've heard people say like, "Oh man, that's a rivalry of the Warriors." And I'm like, "They never beat us. How the fuck is it a rivalry?" Like, yeah, it produces good series, but it's not a rivalry because a rivalry, one team win and the next team win. Like, that's what made the Cavs a rivalry for us is we beat them, they beat us, and we beat them. And then, you know, like you have to go back and forth in order to create a rivalry. It's just not one team winning. And so I loved what Wimby said about that. I was just like, no, it can be. You know, I saw what Shea said about it. Like, nah, this could be, you know, when you look at the NBA, you look at those two teams, those two teams should have a lot to say in the next five NBA Finals. Whether those two teams or one or the other win it or not is one thing, but they should be right there in the mix. Yeah. Every single time. That's what they're building towards. And I think, you know, when you look at both of these young squads, obviously OKC's already champions and the Spurs are, I wouldn't say rebuilding anymore. They've built back, you know, with Wemby. And I think the person who gets the least amount of credit, or not necessarily the least amount of credit, but I think the Spurs are just as lucky— to have Stephon Castle as they are to have Wimby. Stephon Castle is a winner. He's been a winner his entire life. And I think Stephon Castle has brought the winning ways to the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio Spurs is a winning organization, but they've been losing for a while and you gotta get those ways back. And Stephon Castle to me is one of the ultimate winners. He's one of those types of guys. Not taking anything away from Wimby. But more so just showing my appreciation for what Stephon Castle is as a basketball player. He's a winner. He changes cultures. He's won at every level he's played at, and he will continue to win bigger and bigger at this level. And so I think the San Antonio Spurs are equally as lucky to have Stephon Castle as they are to have Victor Wembanyama. Does that mean Victor Wembanyama can't possibly become the greatest player ever? No, that does not mean that he can't. But when you're talking of, or speaking of an organization, one player doesn't win championships. And different people carry different roles. And the role that Stephon Castle will play for those San Antonio Spurs teams right now and moving forward will be equally as important. Of that, speaking of OKC with their second loss, I know everybody's still talking about can they beat our record or not? They're still right there, 24-2, to make a push at it. But like I said before, it's a long season. Long, long season. Sometimes you have scheduled losses. I'd love to see where OKC go from this. All of a sudden you lose one, you're not riding that high anymore. You know, you're not keeping a win streak alive anymore and all those things tend to take place. So we'll see where it goes. I don't want to talk too much about a record. In game 26 and there's still 56 more to go. Give those guys some grace, let them run their own race. They're gonna run their own race. And then once it get down to it later in the season, if they got, if they, you know, if they got a shot at it, then focus on it. But 26 games in, it takes a while to get there. We're still months away. Gotta let them guys run their own race. But I love to hear some of them say like, yeah, we going for it. Yeah. I respect that, 'cause I was that same way. Like, yo, we going for it. Staying along the lines of the young studs in this league, Cooper Flagg scored 42 in a loss versus the Utah Jazz. It was the most points by an 18-year-old in NBA history, breaking Bron's record of 37. Cooper Flagg, I think, has the capabilities of being an elite defender in this league, which is one of the things that I think can make him special. I think he also has the potential. Notice I said the capabilities of being a great defender. The potential of being a really good scorer in this league. I think all the really good scorers have a go-to, like what they're known for, right? Like Steph, the 3-ball, Bron getting to the cup, KD, the middie, and getting post work, you know, one dribble pull-ups, stepping to the 3, simple, easy buckets. Like James Harden, mixing, you step back, pick and roll. All the great scorers in the league, in my opinion, they have their go-tos, or like how they get to it, what's their bread and butter. I personally don't know what's Cooper Flagg's bread and butter yet to be one of the great scorers in the league. But what I do believe is that he has the potential to become one of the great scorers in this league. But in order to do that, I do think he's going to have to figure out what's his bread and butter. Right now, offensively, I think he just do a bunch of everything. And that's great. Like you want somebody who can do a bunch of everything. LeBron James done a bunch of everything as much as anybody. But like I said, you have to have something that you hang your hat on. That when all else fails, I know I can get to that. I don't know necessarily exactly what that is for Cooper Flagg yet, but I do think he has the toolbox, the toolkit to figure out what that is and learn and continue to enhance his tool, add to his toolkit. And figure out what that go-to situation is for him and his game, à la Steph Curry and the 3-pointer. So, you know, it's good to see Cooper Flagg playing at the level he's playing at though. I think, you know, I spoke about it earlier in the teaser, since AD came back, Cooper Flagg has been playing better and better. It's hard being a rookie, man, and you got teams keying on you and you don't have anyone else to take the pressure off of you. AD come back first. Yeah. AD came back, the Lakers double team, triple team, and it opened things up for Cooper Flagg where you're not seeing those double— nobody's drawing the double team, triple team except maybe Cooper Flagg when AD's not out there, you know? And so that's a little tougher, right? So I think both of those things have coincided. AD coming back, Cooper Flagg's play level rising. He's put himself right back in the category for Rookie of the Year, playing great basketball as of late. And what's interesting with him playing great basketball, their team is also playing a lot better basketball. So good to see him finding his footing. And then last but not least, I also spoke earlier in our season, our podcast season, just about Cooper Flagg and he was playing point guard early on and how he was playing out of position and that wasn't suiting him well. And that he'd ultimately have to be slotted in his right position to figure it out in this league. And Jason Kidd has done that, the Mavericks have done that, and he's playing a lot better basketball. So looking forward to continuing to watch his growth. You know, as he continued to make his hay in this league. Last but not least, around the association, you got Celtics at 15-11, 4th in the East, where I don't think anyone expected them to be. And then what a lot of people saying, Jason Tatum has a real chance of coming back this year. Do you think the Celtics should allow Jason Tatum to come back this year and make a run for the East? I do. If Jason Tatum's healthy, I don't think you put him in harm's way. But I think if he's healthy and he passes all the tests and he's ready to go, you don't make him stay out either just because everybody else is more comfortable with that. He's put the work in, he's working his ass off. If he's worked his ass off that much to put himself in a position to play, you absolutely do that. Because I think the East is wide open. And that's what everybody spoke about from the very beginning, the East being wide open. And the Celtics can get themselves a chance to stay in it while he's out. Why not? Yeah. If he's back and healthy. So I think credit to them, credit to Jaylen Brown, the way he's playing, credit to Joe Mazzulla and putting it all together while JT is out. But we're basketball players and if you healthy, you wanna play, you work your ass off to be in position to play in these games. If you're healthy, you wanna play. So hopefully JT is healthy, looking forward to him getting back out there. I know how much he loved his game. But if you can make a run at it, your window isn't forever. Windows close fast. So when you can make a run at it, you gotta make a run at it. Can't wait on tomorrow's promises because they never land the way you thought they would. And next up, we will move on to Golden Days. Always one of the most fun segments, going back down memory lane. Today, this message is from Dylan. Draymond, during game 4 of the 2022 Celtics series, Steve Kerr took you out. You mentioned it. "it felt disrespectful at the time. Can you talk about what was going through your mind in that moment and how it made you feel?" I think anytime you get taken out in a big moment, when you're used to playing in those moments, it feels a bit disrespectful. Not only a basketball player, but as an athlete, one of the things that makes you a great athlete is your ego. And your ego is, "Man, I can always figure it out. I can always do it. I've always figured it out." For me, I've always been in a position to figure it out. In that series, when he took me out, I'm like, damn. Like, you feel disrespected because you're like, hey, number one, you know I can do this. Like, you know what I'm capable of in these situations. B, having a rough go at it, but damn, I can figure this out, right? So when I said disrespectful, it's just like, damn, you think I can't figure this out? But again, having that chip on my shoulder is also what made me who I am. So your mind can immediately flip to that. Oh, you think I ain't good enough, right? Wow, that's disrespectful. All right, I'm gonna go prove him wrong. I'm gonna go prove them wrong. That's how you feel. And so in that moment, you know, I'm struggling a bit, but like I know I'm gonna figure it out. Like this ain't my first rodeo, right? I didn't really get the chance to figure it out. However, down the stretch we start going offensive defense. I got stuck in an offensive possession and I was the one that had to make the plays. What'd you do? I was able to make the play. So it felt good ultimately knowing like, all right, like, yeah, no matter what, you came back to me. I'm always make the plays and figure it out. But like I said, in those moments as an athlete, the competitor that I am, like, you're definitely gonna feel some of that. You know, one thing that I wasn't gonna do though, is I wasn't gonna let it make me pout. I wasn't gonna allow it to take me outta the game so that when my number's called again, all of a sudden I'm not ready because I'm pouting about not being in before. It's the NBA Finals, man. You gotta win that by any means necessary. Whether you play 2 minutes or 25 minutes or 42 minutes, win the game by any means necessary. So although I felt a bit disrespected, that wasn't the thing that was on my mind. I was trying to figure out how the hell we can win this game. Tie this series up 2-2, headed back to Chase Center. And that's what we did. Came back to Chase Center, won game 5, and the rest is history. Yeah. In game 6. But yeah, in that moment, like I'm competing, you know, it's balls to the walls. And then it doesn't help that the whole crowd is going crazy. So now it's like, damn, are you feeding into that? Right? Like these are all the thoughts that can come over you, go through your head. But like I said, fortunately for me, I know how to lock back in. I was able to lock right back in, in the moment, make plays when I needed to. As I said, it wasn't my first rodeo, been there before, and did what I needed to do in order to help us win. So always feel good about that. Regular season game, you may feel a little bit different, right? Like you may be a little more pissed off and those feelings may live a little longer than they would in the NBA Finals because you don't have time to do that. You're just trying to win the game and win the championship, in which we did. Appreciate that, Dylan. As I said before, golden days, always going back down to those moments, it reminds me and makes me think back to moments you always forget. About. So appreciate you all for always tuning in, sharing your questions, and bringing those memories back for me. Also always thankful for everybody tuning in, checking out the show. To our listeners, our subscribers, we never take it for granted. We appreciate you. Till next time, thanks for tuning in on the Draymond Green Show. We got a big one in Phoenix on Thursday. They've been playing well. We've been playing shitty. Got to figure it out. Till next time. Peace. 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 and in conjunction with the New Media. Our executive producers are Leah Reese Dennis, Danny Freisinger, and Greg Hoseman. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]