In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, Draymond opens with a rebuttal to the prevailing narrative that 1980s‑90s NBA players were universally violent enforcers, insisting that such generalizations are inaccurate. He then addresses the recent "F you Draymond" chants heard from Boston fans, explaining his perspective as a father raising young Black children and emphasizing that exposure to such negativity can be a teaching moment rather than a personal affront. The conversation shifts to a mailbag segment where Draymond answers listener questions: he notes that referees have individual tendencies but are not used as a strategic tool; he corrects a mispronounced name and shares his Hawaiian heritage; he discusses veteran players who contribute leadership and locker‑room value, highlighting Andre Iguodala, Udonis Haslem, and DeAndre Jordan as examples; and he outlines his game‑day nutrition routine—eating minimally before shootaround and a small meal two hours before the game to avoid feeling heavy. Throughout, Draymond maintains a candid, conversational tone, mixing humor with earnest reflections on work ethic, family, and the realities of professional basketball.
Chapters
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. I also heard some rumblings about the comments I made about the '80s and '90s players and everybody talking about how everybody who played then is like, "Oh man, you would've got beat up." And they ain't do no beating up. Everybody then weren't enforcers and wasn't hitting people. It's just not the case. So stop it. Enjoy though. Say all you want. If you need a spot on the pod, you wanna come on as a guest, your resume may be good enough or maybe not depending on who you are. And we'll see. But enjoy and appreciate it. Appreciate it. That's all I got for y'all. But before we get out of here, as always, take a couple mailbag questions. Excuse Ginger in the background. Gonna take a couple mailbag questions before we get out of here. I go check out this film. I haven't even eaten my dinner yet. So what some of y'all can learn is work ethic. How about that?
Everybody.
Y'all can definitely learn work ethic. I haven't eaten my dinner yet. It's about to be 3:00 AM, but it's fine. 'Cause one thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna put the work in. That's why I am who I am and you are who you are. Oh, I know what else I needed to speak about. The Boston fans. Hazel is pissed off by the way, because they were chanting, "Fuck you, Draymond. Fuck you, Draymond." By the way, my name don't even rhyme with like that whole like chant. Like it don't, like.
Yeah.
Your, like, you know, your chant is supposed to be like, you know, like if I had a one-syllable name, like then it would work. Steph, Klay. Even if it was like Wigs, Steve, it would work. But Draymond actually doesn't work. Shout out to my mom for the name. Is beneficial for me in this case. It actually don't work. But on a serious note, I know Hazel is very upset just because our kids were at the game and they're listening to that. And quite frankly, I don't make much of it. I'm, you know, for my daughter who's 1, my 7-year-old's not here as she has school, 5-year-old, DJ, I'm raising a warrior, no pun intended. Like I'm raising a man. So I don't make much of him hearing that or seeing that. Like it is what it is. And so for me, I don't make much of it. Like I said, my 1-year-old, my baby girl isn't like, she probably can't even make out what they're saying. And then for DJ who can, Like, this is what it is, man. This is what you got. And you know, like I said before, he say he's gonna be a coach. Maybe that's you one day that they're yelling at like that. But you've seen your dad go through it. And we okay. We walked out of there smiling with our head held high. Me chasing him down the hallway and him having a good time. And that's how we gonna walk out of there on Friday. But I think for me, And for him to see that, I'm actually happy he saw that. I'm actually happy he saw that because for the rest of his life, we will have the opportunity to talk about, you remember when I went through X, Y, and Z when you were 5? And you remember those people were saying this and saying that? Like, it's okay, you can get through it. Ain't no big deal. So that's all it is for me. Yes. My family is livid and trust me, I get it. I totally understand. But for me, who's raising a young Black man in America, for him to understand how this world works, for him to understand how America works, as opposed to how they say America works, that was just another example of it. And so, No harm, no foul. Fuck Draymond Green. Fuck Draymond Green. Fuck you too. Jackson, you got some mailbag questions for us before we get outta here?
Yes, sir. From @damaria_monea, do players ever look at the refs that are assigned to a game and use that for any sort of strategy?
I don't think you, you use it as any strategy. You just kind of know what to expect. You know, when you see certain refs come, you just know what to expect. Referees call games differently. Just like players, referees have tendencies. And so I think when you see it, you just know what to expect and what not to expect. So it's not really some strategy more so than just kind of alerting yourself.
From the 4th Splash Bro @—
I think that name, I'm gonna use my, My Blackness, and I think that name is Da'Meria Jackson.
Okay, my fault. Apologies, Da'Meria.
Possibly Da'Maria.
Hmm.
But you butchered it.
I did.
You're absolutely right. And the second name is Monet, not Monia. That's Monet.
Okay, see, for me, just to defend myself from where I come from, being born in Hawaii, if I saw that name like that, I would say Monet. But I hear you, you're right. You're probably right. You're probably right. That's all I'm saying.
Wait, in Hawaii you'd say what?
Monea.
What part of Hawaii are you from, Jackson?
I was born on Oahu in Honolulu and I didn't live there for very long, but my, I still got a lot of family there. My mom grew up there. We go back there every year, so.
Oh, so you do go back?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I can tag along on your vacation. Oh, for sure. Say no more.
We going to Hawaii.
For sure.
I'll show you all the spots.
We going to Hawaii, baby.
Let's go. All right. From the Fourth Splash Bro at Hoffmeister30. Looking around the league now, you have players like Iguodala and Haslam who bring most of their value in the locker room and with their leadership. Who do you see around the league near the end of their career sort of like those guys who would fit into a similar role?
Into a similar role for us or a similar role for them? Obviously Hoffmeister, you can't really answer that question for us. So I'm going to decide which one I think you're asking. And what I think you're asking is who else would fit into that role anywhere else around the league? That's a tricky one. And here's why, because it's not up to me to say who's at the end of their career. You know, like Andre's at the end of his career. That's no surprise. UD is at the end of his career. It's no surprise. It doesn't mean it's ending this year or ending tomorrow, but they're closer to the end than they are the beginning. And so it's not really up to me to say who's, you know, who's at the end or who's not. Ultimately you do understand, like if I look around like at a DeAndre Jordan, who I still think DeAndre Jordan could play, but DeAndre Jordan's closer to the end than he is the beginning. Simply because I think he's in his 13th or 14th year. So just that alone by the numbers, you're closer to the end than you are at the beginning. But even less about him being close to the end of our beginning. I've always appreciated DeAndre's leadership and I've always thought he's been very vocal and you know, on the court, off the court. And he's been through a lot. Like, you know, a guy who came in 41st pick, I think, worked his way to All-Star level, to All-NBA level. Seen the top these last couple years, has seen the bottom, and not necessarily rock bottom, like not like that, but just not at the peak DeAndre level. And so like, I think someone like that, like DeAndre, who really, really, really, I appreciate his leadership, and I know most people don't, and he's 7-foot and athletic, so most people won't even look at him and be like, oh man, that guy has, some good leadership qualities. And I've never had the opportunity to play with him, but just in what I've seen and the type of respect that he has amongst players, because guys do respect DJ, I think he will be good at some point in that role, whenever he's ready to take that role. I think he still feels, and you see it, that he's still athletic. I think he still feels that he has a lot more to give on the court. But in saying that, whenever he's ready to take that role, I think he would be very good in it as well.
Last one from Anne Moselle @anniem28. Tell us about your pregame or game day nutrition ritual.
My game day nutrition ritual is I don't eat before shootaround. I eat after shootaround. I eat a very tiny, tiny, tiny bit, like 2 hours before the game. And then I eat after. And reason being is I hate feeling heavy when I'm going on the court. And sometimes you can eat too much food and feel heavy. So I'd almost rather be a tad hungry than a tad full because I just feel better, especially the older I get. Like the lighter I am, the better I feel. So for me, it's not a ton of food being consumed.
Mm-hmm.
'Cause I just, I can't, like I go out there feeling heavy. I'm a disaster. Like I said, especially at this point in your career, man, the older you get, you know, just carrying so much weight around is brutal for your knees. And so I eat very little on game days, any. But that's it for our mailbag questions, which means that's a wrap on this episode until after game 4 when y'all get this next It's a wrap. Peace.
