LeBron & Steph's legendary All-Star Game, Juwan Howard incident and NBA 75 | The Draymond Green Show

What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. This is our 14th episode and boy, do we have a great show this week. Extremely excited about this one. I think it's the best conversation with a guest that we've had to date. That's obviously no shade to all our guests that we've had because I think it's been incredible. The podcast has been getting incredible ratings and views and just a lot of people reaching out and saying that, you know, it's been a great listen for them and it's a real listen. So I am thankful for that. I'm thankful to everyone who tunes in and listens every week. And most importantly, thankful to everyone who's taken the time out to come on the podcast, share their stories. It's incredible. And it's always extremely fun for me to do. And so, but this convo was very good. It was very insightful. And it was with none other than the top NBA top 75 player, perennial All-Star, brother of mine, gold medalist, Dame Lillard. Dame Lillard. And we talked about his injury recovery. We talked about the CJ trade and we also talked about his future in Portland and a lot more. We, man, we probably talked for about an hour and it was incredible. So I'm looking forward to everyone getting to having the opportunity to listen to that interview. But before we get to that, as you know, we like to go around the world, around the association. Mm-hmm. And just share a few thoughts. So we'll start today with, obviously I tweeted last night about one of the most respectful statements. And I know everybody's like, oh man, what is he talking about? And what the reason I said one of the most respectful statements, because as a competitor, as someone who's currently in this league, I always say the most important respect you can get, and then, winning this league is from your peers. It's from other players. It's from the guys that you go up against every single day. It's from the guys, not only do you go up against every single day, but also the guys that are in your locker room that you take the court with every single day. So that is the most respect you can get, which is why I said this is one of the most respectful statements I can say. Obviously we just got through All-Star Weekend, which let me tell you, —was one of the most incredible weekends the NBA can possibly produce. It was amazing. I mean, from All-Star Weekend being in Cleveland, LeBron James, I mean, LeBron was essentially Draymond Green and Snoop Dogg hosting the Super Bowl. That's what LeBron was to this. He and Rich Paul and Maverick Carter, Randy, that's what they were to this All-Star Weekend. And I don't know, most people obviously don't know them personally well, but let me tell you, They know how to host. And not only in Cleveland for All-Star, but they do it the right way. Maverick has this saying, he always says, "Hey, Dray." He's two things. He say, "Hey, Dray, a lot of people has done it. I don't know if any has done it better." He always says that. And another statement he always says is, "Who's having more fun than us?" Like, who's having, like, you can't find someone having more fun than us. And I agree. And obviously, and being a part of the family, you know, you just see all the ins and outs and how fun it is and the great business moves that lead to more fun and so on and so forth. So they were the host of the weekend, which obviously they blew it out the water. But just being surrounded by greatness, like you can't script that any better. Now here's where the statement comes in at. LeBron James and Steph Curry, two guys born in same hospital in Akron, Ohio, goes back to Cleveland. Steph obviously played against LeBron in NBA Finals, Warriors versus Cavs. The boos were raining in. Anytime they mentioned my name or Steph name, the boos were raining in. All of these things. And then Steph comes out and hits 16 threes and go for 50. MVP. Scripted, right? LeBron James comes out, you know, he's doing LeBron. He's dunking a little bit, but you can tell he's out there. He's not going for the MVP, but he's dunking a little bit, putting on a show. But then LeBron James gets the ball in the mid post. We all know what move he's going to. We all know before he even shoots the ball, this ball is going in. Like, you just felt it. Scripted, right? What Steph Curry and LeBron James did this weekend was the exact reason people think they're so great at what they do. That what they did this weekend further led people on to think the NBA is scripted. I mean, you can't draw it up any better than the way it happened. One guy goes for 50, breaks the record, shatters the record. He almost hit double the amount of threes than the previous record was. He probably broke that record with 6 minutes to go in the second quarter. Incredible. I know, matter of fact, he broke it early on in the third quarter. But— You can't write it up any better. Again, that's two guys born in Akron, Ohio, which is 20 minutes away from Cleveland. Goes to Cleveland, one wins the MVP, the other who's Cleveland's son, who owns that city, who's put that city on the map, who brought them their only NBA championship in the history of the organization. I mean, really almost probably in the history of the city. You know, I gotta throw that in there. My thing with Cleveland is gonna stay my thing with Cleveland. But a guy who was sought out by Cleveland, they tanked to get him, didn't only live up to the hype but surpassed it, which had to be nearly impossible to do. They actually did something that made everyone think again that the NBA is scripted. —And you couldn't draw it up any better. Like, I'm sorry, but the NBA can script as much as they want. You can't script Steph Curry actually making 16 threes. Like, you actually have to go hit those shots with people running, flying at you. Him shooting it right across. Like, you actually have to go make those shots. I'm not sure how that can be scripted. LeBron James, like— Draymond Green. It was destined. Like when he shot that ball, we all knew what was coming. Joel tried to double at the last second. No problem. The ball looked like it came outta Bron hands so nasty. It didn't look like the shot was going in. Of course he cans it. You can't script that any better. He actually has to make that shot. Like, and so what my statement simply was, was those two guys are so great at what they do, that they actually did something to further the notion of the NBA is actually scripted. And I was there to see it. I was there to witness it. And it was one of the most beautiful things. I hope everyone appreciated the greatness that was on display this past weekend in Cleveland. From top to bottom, the top 75 list, I hope everyone appreciated the greatness that was on display. 'Cause I'll tell you who did, I did. And it was amazing. I truly enjoyed my role in the weekend with my TNT family. I hope everyone checked out the broadcast. Maybe next year that'll be the number one broadcast, but next year I'll also be playing. So we'll have to figure that out as well. But there are ways. Yeah. And Craig Barry's great. And he's gonna figure it out as he always does. And I hope everyone enjoyed the telecast as much as I enjoyed being a part of it. 'Cause I thought it was incredible. So that's that. And I hope you guys again appreciate those two guys because they are legends. And no, it does not matter which one is better or who did this. They're legends. They both are legends. They're both born in Akron and they both led you on to think the NBA was scripted due to their greatness. The 3-point contest, I truly enjoyed. I thought it was incredible. It was great to see KAT become the first big man to win it since 2012, since Kevin Love, who was also a Minnesota Timberwolves at the time. I thought that was incredible. I actually chose KAT to win. Yeah. Draymond Green, as you know, because as I said before, it's not much movement. He does not jump. So it's no extra wasted energy. It's literally him picking the ball up. Boom, boom, boom. It's no wasted energy. And so I actually thought KAT would win. KAT did win. Kudos to him. He shoots the lights out of the ball. This is the best year he's had shooting it. He's shooting it at a career clip. But you, you saw this coming, like you've seen this over the years coming, his shot, taking more and more of them. And the more that he's taken over the years, the better his percentages has gotten. So I thought that was absolutely incredible. Congratulations to KAT. Well deserved, incredible shooter. Definitely probably the best shooting big man that we have in the league. And you know, you have some specialists and so you maybe can find a specialist big that can shoot better than him. But someone with the whole entire package like KAT has, KAT will give you a bucket any way you want it. Dribble, post, 3, step back, you name it. He giving you all of those buckets. So he's the best at doing that. You gotta give him his credit. He shoot the lights out. 3-point champion. Yeah. Congratulations to KAT. Job well done, my friend. Way to hold it down for the bigs. That's 2 for KAT now. That's KAT got a skills competition and that's also another one for KAT, 3-point competition. Maybe he'll go to the dunk contest next year, which is a totally different story. I mean, there's been a lot of riffraff and a lot of talk on the dunk contest. Quite frankly, I thought it was terrible. I thought it was bad. I didn't, really enjoy it much. What I did enjoy was watching Juan Toscano-Anderson compete on the biggest stage. That's a guy who got it out the mud straight from 95th Street in Oakland, who did a G League tryout, paid for a G League tryout, made the team, continued to work, gets a training camp invite from the Warriors, gets cut, goes back to the G League, continues to work, get a call up, and obviously we know the rest is history. So to see him on that stage and only be one dunk away from winning, Draymond Green, the slam dunk competition, I thought was incredible. And if there was anything that I enjoyed from that dunk contest, which it wasn't many moments to enjoy, it was that. 'Cause I thought that was incredible. That's pure. That's what we all love. You love to see the guy get it out the mud, underdog, and make it to that stage. And so kudos to Juan Toscano Anderson. Congratulations to Obi Toppin. But yeah. The dunk contest has to be figured out. 'Cause it was not, it was, I mean that used to be the marquee event at like, there was a time where the, where the dunk contest was more important than the actual All-Star Game. Not quite anymore. I mean the 3-point contest was the marquee event this year, but in the same token, the 3-point shot is the most important shot in the NBA. So it makes sense of why that would take precedent. You think about the NBA back in the day, it's all about slashing, getting to the cup, highest flyer, tough, physical, tough as nails. Nobody's really shooting a 3. That was condemned. And everybody talked about, if you live by the 3, you die by the 3. And so it wasn't a big thing. And so the reality is, is it makes sense of why that was more of the marquee event because the NBA is built on 3-point shooting right now. Thanks to Steph Curry. Yeah. And Klay Thompson. So I get it, but something has to happen because it was not great. I'm not sure there was many things that took place during the dunk contest that got you out of your seat. And of course we saw Kareem Abdul-Jabbar infamously walking out of the dunk contest mid-dunk. So— And I also told y'all Draymond Green was the guy who has the most bounce and he's gonna try to do so much and miss the dunks. I knew it. I knew it because he's supposed to win. Like all the pressure's on him to do something spectacular. If he do normal dunks, he doesn't win. So he has to do something spectacular. So I don't know, man, you could see it coming. It's kind of the same thing every year. The guy who's supposed to win doesn't really win. You think back to James White, the high flyer, dunks from the free throw line. When? Like those guys, they're supposed to win and they just never win. Zach Lavine was supposed to win. He did win. But most guys don't. So I thought that was very interesting, or lack thereof of interest. But we'll see. The NBA has done a great job of revamping things for All-Star Weekend to keep the energy going. And I have no doubt in my mind they'll figure something out with the dunk contest to make it more interesting. So we'll see. We'll wait and see until next year. Yeah., which is another All-Star Weekend that I'll be at. I hope I'll be playing this time around. And lastly, before we get to the Dame interview, 'cause it was a pretty long one, so for the sake of time, we'll try to keep this open a little shorter. But before we talk about the Dame interview, I have to say something. Like, it's absolutely necessary that I say something about the Juwan Howard situation. In part due to, I hate Michigan Wolverines. Like, I'm all the way good on them. So. Yeah. Anytime to see their programs in turmoil is always fun for me because why not? I'm a Michigan State guy. I'm a Spartan through and through. They hate us, we hate them. It's no surprise there. It is what it is. So anytime that happens, and not necessarily the incident with Juwan Howard, but anytime their programs are in turmoil, fire Harbaugh, like I enjoy that. Let me say that first. Now, Juwan Howard, it baffles me how no one spoke about the guy grabbing his arm as he's walking through the handshake line. It's almost as if he walked up to someone and punched them in their eye. No words said, premeditated. I made up my mind. I'm walking up to you and I'm punching you in your eye. That's what it almost, That's what the, the narrative around this thing feels like to me. No one's talking about his arm being grabbed. It's a reason Draymond didn't apologize. I have the utmost respect for him for not apologizing. At the end of the day, you did it, it's done, it is what it is. If you ultimately want to reach out to that guy and apologize to him for punching him, totally fine. But the whole he needs to get in a press conference right after. He haven't had time to process his thoughts, hasn't had time to go through. And this whole notion of he needs to get in a press conference and apologize right away, miss me with that. That's ridiculous. You did it. It is what it is. You have to live with it regardless if you apologize or not right then. You take it on the chin, you continue to move. And I'm so happy I didn't go to the University of Michigan as I almost did. Because the way their athletic director comes out immediately like, oh, I reached out to them and I apologize. My man, have you even had an opportunity to talk to your coach yet? To— you came out with this statement within a couple hours of this thing happening. I've reached out to them and apologized. Like, number one, Ward, man, you like, you're not involved directly. Now you have to make decisions, but you reaching out, apologizing, you're almost saying as As if Jawan was wrong. Was he wrong for punching him? Absolutely. Okay. We all know you keep a certain level of professionalism, blah, blah, blah. But you didn't ask, you didn't ask their athletic director to reach out to you and apologize about their head coach grabbing Jawan's arm. But I reached out to them. Our president is reaching out to the chancellor to apologize. Like, stop it. Like, how about have that man back instead of just throwing him under the bus like that? How about coming out and supporting him and saying, I don't agree with what Draymond did, but ultimately I stand in support of our coach. I will handle and we will handle and discipline as we see fit, but let us further figure out what happened first as opposed to, oh, we apologized already and we can't— like, stop it. That's ridiculous. So I thought that was pathetic, yet it wasn't surprising to me because I know how they are. Up there. I'm always rolling with the Spartans. I'm rolling with Tom Izzo. But the fact that there was no support from the people that's supposed to be on his side, it just further validates why I chose the green and white and not scum up the highway. Because I couldn't believe that. That was baffling to me that their athletic director ran out like that apologizing and not supporting his coach. I hope, I hope Draymond say, forget y'all, rest of the season suspension, I'm out of here. You can have that. That's what I'm hoping for. But we'll see. We know how it goes. Whatever. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. Also suspended for the rest of the season. Can we also know what the assistant— because see, as someone who's been suspended, from very important things, there's, there's also two sides to it. And I've been in trouble before for coming into a scrum after the fact in the NBA saying you escalated the situation. So how does this guy Joe Krabinoff not get anything for coming in and escalating the situation? Obviously you got punched in your face, so you did get something, but he gets absolutely nothing for coming in and escalating the situation, and the guy who grabbed Jawan runs out scotch-free? So does he get anything? Like, nothing happens for him running out and grabbing that man's arm? Like, he's not your friend. You run and grab his arm? That's ridiculous. In 2022, you can't even grab your kid's arm without getting in trouble. You're gonna grab the arm of another grown man In a heated situation, that's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. So I absolutely hated the way Michigan's athletic director came out and did that. Showed no support for Juwan in coming out and do that. I absolutely hate the fact that no one's talking about him grabbing Juwan's arm. And I absolutely hate the fact that no one's talking about Krabenhoff coming in and escalating the situation and ultimately getting punched in his face. But it's not a Michigan State thing, so ultimately it is what it is. I really don't care. That's just that. We'll move on from that. Good Michigans in turmoil. I love it. Good Michigans in turmoil. I love it.