Reaction to flagrant foul in Rockets-Warriors + Steph Curry deserves more calls | Draymond & Baron

They said it was a flagrant foul. Then they said you wind up and with force. Like, how else do you go to the basket? How else do you go to the basket?

Should I go to the rim like this?

Oh my gosh.

'Cause I ain't got MJ bounce, so I just can't sit in the air like this. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show with my brother Baron Davis. How you feeling, my dog?

I'm good, bro. Just coming off my first coaching AAU win, 11 and under U. Our first tournament. Shout out to the boys, Cali Elite LA Unified Basketball. What's up with you, my dog? You been balling, man.

I appreciate it, bro. First 11 U? That was y'all first tournament?

That was our very first tournament.

And y'all won the first one.

Yeah, we won a championship by like 30.

Are y'all elite or was the competition not that good?

The competition was good. I think it was a mix of both, right? I didn't know, like, I wasn't expecting what type of team I was gonna have, right? Outside of like my kids, they friends, and like some of the kids I coach in flag football. But like them kids got game. Like real game. Like left-hand layups, Eurostep, you know, everybody shooting threes. I was watching the Baby Warriors. I was just trying to get 'em to play defense, man, and pass the ball to each other. 'Cause you know these young dudes, they be looking for them stats. Everybody wanna shoot threes, everybody wanna, you know, get the highlights, dribble between, you know, 2 or 3 people and make a highlight. So I was just on 'em about defense, contesting shots, rebounding, and passing the ball. That was it. And we won. I was happy for 'em. Yeah.

That's fire. Your son nice?

Yeah, he gonna be nice. He's good. He's good. He's a good complement to the team. He had 4 threes in the championship though.

Oh, he shoot that thing?

Yeah, I guess.

Point guard?

I mean, point guard.

He could play point, he could play 2. My whole team is guards.

Okay.

They all guards. Yep, I got all guards. I need some big kids. I need some bruisers.

I think at that age, at the age of 11, I think every basketball player should be a guard.

Yep.

Because even if you grow and you become a big man, to have guard skills as a big, even if you grow up and become a back to the basket big man, to still have guard skills, like in your back downs, your ball handling, like say you grow up to be a back to the— because I think at some point or another, like, Obviously we see what Joker's doing and those type of guys. But at some point or another, like basketball go in cycles. Back to the big man is gonna come back. And they're 11 years old, in their lifetime, back to the basket big man will definitely come back. And say you grow, like you're 11 now, but you grow to be 16 and 6'11", back to the basket big, If you play point guard as a kid or just guard as a kid, it helps with your ball handling, but it also help you see the floor. So say you become a guy that's double-teamed, like to have that background of, but I was a guard, you can see different things, you can handle pressure differently. So I think that's important anyway. Like regardless of size.

All my kids gonna have guard skills and post skills. I know you defensive, I know you going for Defensive Player of the Year, but I have to tell you, there's no guarding BD in the post, not even Draymond Green. That's the same BD. Not even, that is not the same.

That's a hell of a post defender. There was no way you at 6'2" was scoring on me in the post.

Draymond.

There's no way.

I'm gonna call you out when you get ready to work out. But to go back to camp, I'm coming in the gym, bro.

Oh, swamps.

You gonna be like, you gonna be like, yo, I've never seen somebody with this much post-activity.

You gonna throw your back out. How you feeling, man? I feel, well, I'm tired, bro, honestly.

I can imagine.

I'm exhausted. I need, I'm looking forward to tomorrow, showing up to the plane, fly to Phoenix, chill out, bro. Last 5 days been crazy.

Crazy.

We flew to Memphis.

Crazy.

We flew from, played in Memphis, flew from Memphis to LA, game in LA, come home on a back-to-back off a 2-week trip is unheard of.

That's crazy.

Back-to-back to, versus Denver at that. It ain't like they gave us like some garbage. Denver on back to back.

Yeah, y'all got the heat.

Man, that was, and then, you know, obviously then having a 5 o'clock game, 5:30 game today came fast as hell.

Those are the worst games ever. People don't understand how off your grind, off your schedule you are with those type, those and the 12:30 games.

Throw your whole schedule off.

12:30.

It's like right there smack in the middle of when you would be napping. So you kind of can't get a nap. It's weird, man. It's weird. But nah, so honestly I'm tired, but nonetheless, outside of that, I feel great. I think, you know, just competing at a high level, I feel great, brother. I'm healthy.

Recovering. Recovering, flying around, talking shit. Think you got your nightmare thing, you working on your nightmare?

You're finished with that? I'm waiting on a nightmare. Opportunity. I'm waiting on the nightmare opportunity. But, um, yeah, bro, I think, uh, I feel good about the Dubs.

It's that time.

I feel good about the Dubs.

It's, it's that time of year where like, oh man, it's like how many games left? You thinking like that, but you know, like, man, we, we gotta put, we gotta put our put our heads down and start mining these last 4 games, right? To see where we shake out.

And then you get that new life. Yeah, and guess what? An opportunity to have a 50-win season. I used to, I'll be honest, there was a point in time in my life, not long ago, where I took 50-win seasons completely for granted.

Yeah.

Oh yeah, like, sure, for sure, whatever. Uh, we got an opportunity to get to a 50-win season. I'll take it. So we need to win these next 4. But before we get into the show, remember to subscribe to The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis so you don't miss any episodes.

And don't forget to follow us on all social media @DraymondShow. All right, Dub Nation, what's happening? The Rockets That game was very physical. The flagrant— hey, I saw that flagrant foul call. Oh my God, that was wild. I've never heard someone winding up to make a layup in front of somebody. Man, that right there, once I saw that, once I saw that, I was like, okay, something ain't right. Something is not right. First of all, it's a foul and an easy one. Nobody tells you to stick your nose in grown folks' business, meaning you don't lead with your face. And you off balance and you foul. So I don't understand how you got an offensive foul at one. Then on top of that, they said it was a flagrant foul. Then they said you wind up and with force, Like, how else do you go to the basket?

How else do you go to the basket? Should I go to the rim like this?

Oh my gosh.

'Cause I ain't got MJ bounce, so I just can't sit in the air like this.

Anybody else, like that was one of those, anybody else, it would've been, oh, you okay? Like they would've called an and one. They may have called it an offensive foul. But because it was Draymond Green, they said, It was a windup with force.

That's defamatory.

And you were one step away and you made the layup. Man, that's wild.

By the way, that actually changes that game. That game goes—

Big time.

It's a huge play.

Big time.

Huge play.

Right, because it, yeah, because it take all the time away. I'm watching the game, so I'm watching everybody reaction on the bench and it became a debate. Right? It became almost like a debate, and it deflated all the energy. It did.

And it was my football. And it was your football. That's crazy.

That's crazy. And a technical foul.

And a technical foul on me. Because I want the position too.

Because in that case, the Kareem Lincoln dunk was a flagrant foul.

That's a foul. Flagrant, like, I don't know, man.

That's a flagrant, that's a flagrant foul.

For that to be a flagrant foul, for it to not even be an and-one, number one, he's running underneath me and then don't jump. So for it not to be an and-one is actually crazy.

And slip, almost slip. It is, almost slip under you.

It's actually crazy. All right, that's fine, cool, moving on. To then get a flagrant foul, The flagrant foul wasn't necessarily what killed me. What killed me was the description. The explanation. This man, so—

And the way he said it.

The way he announced it. He wound up.

Like he busted your mother's throat.

Wound up. Delivered with force. I'm just not sure how else to go to the basket.

That was ill.

Yeah, definitely changed the game.

I didn't like that.

But nonetheless.

That changed a lot.

I think after that it definitely was deflated and we just didn't have enough in the tank. I think the Denver game was really a scheduled loss. Denver sitting in, San Francisco waiting on us to get back. We get back home off a 2-week trip and have a game the same day we got home. I didn't make it home till like 3 o'clock that, that morning. And nonetheless, we dug deep and we found a way to get that game. I think all of that eventually caught us tonight. Um, like the energy—

It's just legs, dead legs.

Like we gave what we— exactly, like Like first quarter, I could barely get up and down the court. My legs were so dead. And we go back on offense, I'm just standing back there watching like, shoot it, shoot it. So I could be back here on defense. But it was, you know, nonetheless though, you gotta get 'em some credit. You know, they stepped up, they made some big, they do. They made some big shots. Jalen Green had a really good game. Dylan Brooks played well. Draymond Green. Amen Thompson, you know, I've been a fan of him. He's so athletic and he's just getting more and more confident. He's starting to see more and more pictures develop. So I think he really the key to that team. And then Jabari had a good game off the bench, you know, so you gotta get him. Shingun playing well. You know, so you gotta give them some credit. They played well across the board.

They got talent, man. They got talent. They young, they athletic, they got a lot of skilled players. They tough, they play tough.

Absolutely.

They play tough, they don't back down. That's what I like about them the most is they not backing down to nobody. Facts.

But if, you know, if this is a team that we see in the playoffs, I like how we match up. I like we got experience in the playoffs. Like I like, I love our chances. We see this team in the playoffs, but they do play us tough.

The finals are here, and the only thing for certain, it's the last time to bet on college basketball this season. We've got amazing games. Duke and Houston.

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After the game, Jimmy Butler mentioned Steph Curry, that I've never seen an individual get fouled more than he gets fouled. And one thing I found interesting was most of it is off the ball. Please break that down. And, and why is that true?

Well, it's definitely true because I think they fear Steph just as much off the ball, if not more, than they do on the ball. Um, because off the ball is where he causes so much havoc. And Jimmy, what, what, what the statement that he made is very true. I think He's always being grabbed and held off the ball because you don't want to get a step behind. So everybody just grab and hold him. And you know, it's interesting because Loon got an offensive foul tonight where he was going in for the screen and Loon said something to the ref and the ref said something back. I said, yeah. I said, the problem is it is an offensive foul. I said, but you're just letting the guy hold him. So in order for him to get a screen, he actually have to go try to— Right. In between this guy grabbing him. Right. And Steph, he has to go try to wedge in between that because he's just being held. So yeah, you can call the offensive foul every time, but if he's just gonna hold him, then what is he to do as a screener? You know what I'm saying? Like you, you really can't get a clean screen because he's just grabbing and holding him and you're not gonna call the first foul.

Right.

So no, Jimmy's,— is 1,000% true. Like, Steph gets fouled more than anybody. And it is oftentimes off the ball because, you know, as soon as he take off, if you're a half a step off his body, it creates a domino effect because all he need is a half an inch to get the shot off. And it's a great look.

So—

Right.

They just grab and hold him. And he just keep moving and keep moving and they just grab him and hold him and hold him. It's interesting. It's definitely interesting to say the least.

Yeah, my goal for Steph in the playoffs is 10 free throws a game.

He should get 10 free throws a game.

Yeah.

He earns them, that's for sure.

He definitely, but he, I want him to average 10 free throws a game just because he does get fouled a lot. And I think, you know, a lot of times the referees just kind of let it slide. Right, the grabbing, the holding, jumping under him when he shoot. Like people do whatever they can. And sometimes they let that go because your greatness for capacity outside of no contact, you can't hit a shooter, you can't have contact with a shooter, you can't grab somebody coming around the screen. And when I watch the game, He get bumped, held, grabbed, pushed off his mark more than any shooter that I've ever seen in the league not get those fouls. The next 4 games—

Yo, one sec. One sec.

What happened?

You know, I think Steph also gets punished for 2 things. One is he don't talk to the referees.

Right.

Like, so they know they not gonna get cussed out. They know he ain't gonna say much. He may say something every now and then, but he don't say anything. And I think that actually he gets penalized for that. I also think he gets penalized because he's not a flopper.

Right.

So he don't flop to sell calls. And so it's almost as if, oh, he not getting fouled, or it don't matter because he ain't showing that he getting fouled. And I think in this league, we reward flopping.

Mm-hmm.

Like, and we put a flopping rule in that you never see get called.

Right.

Like, the flop never gets called, ever. It does not get called all year, but it's actually a rule, you know what I'm saying? But we reward flopping and flailing in this league, and Steph does neither. And so I actually think it ultimately, it doesn't really hurt him because he still do what he do, but it hurts him as far as getting the call and getting to the free throw line because he don't flop and he don't sell the calls.

Yeah. Speaking of Steph, you know, y'all been locked in, Steph been locked in before this Rockets game, of course, you know, 52 points versus the Grizzlies, 12 threes, 37 points against the Lakers, 36 against the Nuggets, 7 threes. He got an edge right now, right? Um, you know, you see Steph locked in. What does that mean? Like, what are you seeing on a daily basis that's, that's keeping— that's getting him hyped up for these games? Um, especially on y'all run, what's changed in Steph?

I think he said it early on. I think number one, um, you know, him having— being forced to take that week off helps, uh, just to kind of get your legs back underneath you. But number two, we right in the thick of things. Like, we right in the hunt.

Right.

We kind of, we control our own destiny. Like, to guarantee ourselves a playoff spot. He said it a few months ago, "I just wanna play meaningful basketball." And after every game, he'd be like, he'd look at a couple of coaches and he'd say, "Meaningful basketball." Yeah. And so, I don't think it's necessarily something that's hyping him up, per se. More so than the opportunity to play meaningful basketball. Basketball games that really mean something. And, you know, like us going to the playoffs is a very realistic thing. Like, so let's, you know, you start to ramp up to that, you know, getting to that level of where, you know, you need to be in a couple weeks. And so I think, you know, it's just kind of that time.

Right.

Like he definitely been locked in and he, he, and you know, he, Steph also, we all do, I don't with the pod, but you get to a point to where you put everything else down and it's just like, all right, it's, it's, it's just this now. And you know, that's, it's, it's around that time. So—

It's that time.

He definitely locked in, playing with that edge and, focus, you know, of just— Yeah. Like, what matters is the games, and it's showing. I think he making an argument to snatch that last spot on that, on that All-NBA team, uh, first team, making a— putting up a real case.

So— Absolutely. Especially just the year he been having and the consistency, you know, how we talk about, you know, the importance of consistency. And how much we value consistency throughout the year and also the growth. And so finishing the year strong is going to be super important. And this last week of the season is even more important because you got the Suns, the Spurs, the Blazers, and the Clippers. You know, everything that's happening with you on the floor when you guys play, when you don't play, is really going to determine Who's gonna be 4, 8, 10, right? What is the team thinking? You know, how are you looking at this week? What does this last week of the season mean to you?

Well, like, you know, obviously we are in prime position to not only get in the playoffs, but we could possibly be the 3rd or 4th seed. Possibly get a home court series to start the playoffs, which a week and a half ago wasn't even a realistic goal.

Facts.

But things happen. Memphis lost some games, Denver lost some games, Lakers lost a couple games, and, and you know, that's a realistic thing now. And so I think that's the focus. And the focus isn't like, We're not like, yo, let's get the 4, let's get the 3. We're just like, yo, let's win every game.

Right.

Like, control what we can control. What we can control is winning every game. And so that's the focus, man. Going into Phoenix, they coming off a long road trip. You know, they've lost quite a few in a row. You know, like, we wanna, when a team is down, you gotta step on 'em. You know what I'm saying? You don't wanna give that team life. And so, That's gotta be the goal there. The Spurs, that's gotta be the goal. Like you gotta be supposed to, you gotta win the games that you're supposed to win. We supposed to win that game. You gotta take care of business. You go to the Blazers, they playing a lot better basketball as of late, you know, but that's a game that we supposed to win. You just gotta go win the games you supposed to win. And then the Clippers.

It could wind up being y'all and the Clippers. I said that, remember I said that the Clippers, it could wind up being y'all and the Clippers. So that could be a good snapshot of what you could see in the Western Conference Finals, the way both teams is playing.

1,000%. And so, you know, we gotta— that's a game they coming into our place and a game that's gonna mean something for sure.

Right.

You know, and we gotta take care of business. So, so I got 4 games that, you know, not easy games, but no game in the NBA is ever easy, but Power through. 4 games that we buckle down and go get.

Yeah, that's the goal. Power through, power through. I'm gonna show up at that Clipper game for sure, for sure. I gotta be at that game. That's gonna be a super important game, especially the last one of the season. I'm looking forward to that one. I will be in the building.

Then we could check Meski out.

Yes, let's get some Meski. Let's check out some Meski. Celebrate the season. Also wanna congratulate you, bro, on winning Defensive Player of the Month. Oh, I appreciate that. We started this pod together. You know, I've been campaigning for you to be Defensive Player of the Year. You've been balling, you've been playing your ass off on the defensive side. I'm talking about showing up like a Defensive Player of the Year is supposed to show up to win your second Defensive Player of the Year. Like, Talk about that. Like, how is that motivating you, especially these last 20 games, right? The last, the last month and a half, it just, you stepped it up a notch, right? A couple notches. Talk about, you know, Defensive Player of the Year and what that means to you and how that motivates you.

To have the opportunity to just put my name in the hat to compete for, um, is everything. It's, it's extremely motivating. You know, these opportunities don't come around all the time. And I think, you know, I was, I felt like all year I was having a first, first team all defense caliber type of year all year anyway. I think our defense, regardless of what's happened this season throughout the different parts of the season, I think the one thing that was constant was our defense was good. We had a top 10 defense all year.

Yeah.

And you know, with Jimmy coming in, our defense has gotten even better. Our defense has actually been number one defense— in the league, number 1, number 2 defense in the league since Jimmy been here. So with that being said, to have to, you know, to know that like, yo, I can really make a push for this thing, it's been extremely motivating. You know, just going into these games, having that, that added factor of like, yo, I really want to accomplish this. Like I need to lock in and focus on what the task is at hand, you know? And so— Yeah. It's motivated the hell outta me. And like I said, to even be in the running, you know, at this point in my career, I'm grateful, man. I'm grateful. I'm grateful for my health, you know, to be healthy enough to compete at this level still. Like, but I, you know, I'm continuing making my case.

You've been a testament, you know, the whole season, you know, we watched the ups and downs, the injuries, the, you know, the doubt, the how you feel, the when I'm coming back, right? And you know, now and then it start, I feel good, I feel good, I feel, oh yeah, I'm feeling good. Yeah, I'm feeling my attitude changing, the vibe changing. We playing for something and you know, you just keep elevating. Like the big shot against the Lakers, you hit the clutch, crunch time 3. Yeah. That was big. But for me, it was the steal on Luka, right? Those are the plays that make Defensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year.

Absolutely. It's like a Heisman moment.

Right.

Right.

Talk about that moment. Talk about that moment because everybody gonna celebrate the winning shot, but not everybody celebrate that big steal or that winning defensive play. Talk about just, that play in general and just what moments like that mean for somebody like you?

You know, it's always fun to make those plays down the stretch because the reality is they usually come on a Luka or a Draymond Green because those are the guys that's gonna have the ball down the stretch, right? A LeBron, like, you know, they're in those moments, very rarely are you taking the ball from the third option on the team. You don't have the ball in that moment. Unless it was like a broken play and somehow you ended up with the ball. But like a broken play, if the third option got the ball on a broken play, it ain't highly likely that it's working anyway. And, or fourth option or fifth, you know, like—

It's usually created by the first guy.

Yeah, yeah.

It's usually created by the first guy.

Yeah, exactly. In those moments. And so to make those plays down the stretch, Like to me, I'm always looking for that moment. Like it's my chance, you know what I'm saying? Like to do what I do in the game, how I can, you know what I'm saying? Because every now and then you may look up and end up with a shot for a chance to win the game or tie the game or something like that, be off a broken play or somebody drove and kicked it. But more often than not, Steph taking that shot, Jimmy taking that shot. Like, and that's—

Right.

That's just what it is. And so for me, in those moments, it's like, this is my game-winning shot. You know what I'm saying? Like, this is how I can win the game. And I love, you know, I love having those moments. And so when Luka drove in, I'm watching the whole time waiting for him to see if he gonna expose the ball. 'Cause if he exposed the ball, I'm going for it. And in those situations, like, I'm gonna go for it in a way where if I foul, you just going to the line for 2 free throws.

Yeah, nah, for sure.

And at that point in the game, up the, up, I think 5 points at that time, 5 or 7 points. At that time in the game, if you, if I foul you and you going to the line for 2 free throws, we don't care anyway.

Right.

Now I'm not gonna timidly reach and like give up an and-1. I ain't gonna do that. I'm going completely for the strip.

That's a get, Draymond Green. That's a get.

Yeah, that's the only other thing that's going to happen if I miss this strip is I'm following you and your arm going down.

Yes.

Like, so—

Bingo.

You know, to make that play in that moment though, like I said, I'm always looking for that opportunity because I feel like as a defender, like that's the holy grail as a defender. Like as a defender, that's your Heisman moment. That's your game-winning shot. Like that's your— And so I'm always looking for those opportunities.

Right, and good defense, I mean, good offense beat good defense. Great offense beat great defense. Sometimes good offense beat great defense, right? Is, you know, we play an offensive game. So anytime you can get, you know, the game-winning deflection or the steal. I remember I did that to T-Mac in the playoffs, right? I think it was like game 1, like game 1, T-Mac game-winning shot, right? And I just came outta nowhere, stole the ball and it felt better to me than hitting game winners, right? Not, you know, I hit some playoff game winners, but that was like the moment where it was like, man, like T-Mac got the ball, like, you know, it's over. Mm-hmm. And, to get, that's like a Luka, that's a big get. Like, so for a defensive person, it's like, ooh, I, you know, I got one of the best people in the league. It's just a big notch, a big notch. And a nice big pat on the back.

100%. I got Joker before for the game.

Yep.

In Denver. I just got Luka.

Come on now.

It's always fun to make that play against some of the greats, man.

Come on, man.

It's always like, ah! 'Cause it's hard.

That's what make him great. That's what make him great. That's what make him great. So— Oh, was that Draymond Green?

I need to teach you how to get that ball like that.

Hell yeah.

In LA, you know the stars is out, like—

Yeah, the star, everything.

Man, that was big game. That was one of the ones that you like, ah, ha, ha.

That was a high ticket right there. That was a high ticket.

No, I was hype about that one.

You know what else I also like? About the Dubs is how big Kaminga and I call him P, I call him Warrior P, you know, how they been showing up.

Yeah. Right?

Both of them boys been showing up. Even Moses, even Moses, he been showing up. But those two in particular, you know, these last 3 games, they've been really aggressive.

Mm-hmm.

Right? And also aggressive on the defensive end, getting deflections. Saw Kaminga blocking shots, laughing about blocking the shot. Like, it looked like he locked in defensively. And so, you know, I'm a firm believer that your defense create great offensive flow. And you can tell in these last 3 games that those 2 dudes in particular have upped it. On the defensive side and the offense is, is really helping, you know, is a result of that.

Absolutely. The effort they've been giving on the defensive end is, uh, their offense is a direct, under direct influence of that. It's kind of how the game work, you know, like you give it y'all on defensive end, you getting rewarded. But they both been extremely aggressive. And like you said, Moses as well. Uh, Moses kind of been stepping up, taking that challenge of guarding the other team's best guard, you know what I'm saying? And so We need them to play well in order to make the run we wanna make. So it's good to see them playing the way they playing, as confident as they are. Po's been shooting the shit out the ball.

Yep.

Which is great for us. J.K. been all over the floor defensively. He rebounding and he getting up the court, you know what I'm saying? He getting downhill. So, you know, it's good to see him taking that challenge. Because when you take that challenge, as the playoffs start and he's taking that challenge, we know what he brings on the offensive end. That's how you earn your minutes. You know what I'm saying? I think at times we all feel like, man, you just supposed to give me something.

Right.

And we all feel like that. Like that's just a natural thing, you know, to feel at times. But like what I'm watching him do right now is I'm watching him go take it. And I'm watching him go take it really for the first time in his career where he like, "I don't care about nothing else. This what I'm going to do. And I'm gonna make it so you can't take me off the floor." And you earn so much respect doing that, you know, because like that was my path.

You know what I'm saying?

Like I had to take that path in order to become who I've become. Mm-hmm. And so to watch him finally turning that corner and be like, "Oh no, I'm just gonna go do this and create my own situation." You really earn respect like that, not only from players, but you earn the respect of your coach like that.

Yep.

And so it's beautiful to see. That's how you do it. It's beautiful to see what he's doing. You know, he just gotta stay locked in like he been staying locked in.

That's right.

'Cause you know, we, we about to make this run and we need everybody. Key Santos also another young fella who been playing extremely well. You know what I'm saying?

Oh, he been balling too. Scrappy. He been doing exactly— it seemed like everybody been falling in the role and saying, hey, this is how I'm gonna show up and bring my superpower to the team. And that's all you can ask for. Right? It's for everybody to make some sacrifice, to put something in the pot that's gonna make sure that this team is solidified, and that's on the defensive end. And then as a result of that, everyone else will benefit offensively, right? Because you have superstar players on your team and unselfish players on your team.

1000%. So, um, It's, you know, they, the young fellas playing well, man.

Right.

It's great to see 'cause we need it. Let's move around the league a little bit. The 4 through 8 race in the West for the final spots in the West is crazy. Really 3 through 8.

Right.

Have you ever seen a race this tight between those spots?

Man, it's crazy. You know, there have been races like this. I feel like some of it was last year or the year before, but, This one right here is, is way different because it's gonna be all about the matchups.

Mm-hmm.

It's all about the matchups. And this first round of matchups is anybody can be beat. Like, the talent you get from, you know, 4 through 8, right? And what they're fighting for, that 4 or 3 through 8, all of these teams have, have have been in 3 at some point, or 2 at some point of the season, right? Or 4 at some point of the season. So you got a lot of teams that are deserving of home court advantage. You got a lot of teams that play well with home court advantage. You have a lot of teams that play better on the road versus certain teams. So this race is gonna be crazy.

Mm-hmm.

Because when the matchups turn out, then it's like you don't even have time to figure out. Like, I remember when we were fighting to get in the playoffs, we believe it was all predicated on what Dallas did. So they can take a night off and say, oh, we'll lose this game 'cause we wanna play the Warriors. Right now, can't nobody, you can't position yourself and say, ooh, I wanna be, 6 or, or 2 so I can get Houston, or, or I want to get a matchup with Minnesota. You can't, you can't afford to take no, no luxuries because you could fall to 9.

Yes, you can, right?

Yes, you can be playing, and you may have to play your way in. So you want to be a part of that, that core 6. This last week of the season is going to be some beautiful basketball to watch because people gonna really be Putting everything they have on the line.

I think this remind me of that year. I can't remember the exact year. I think maybe like mid-2000s when KG was in Minnesota. They were the 8 seed. And I think they won like maybe 48 games or something like that and was the 8 seed, right?

That's what happened to us when we didn't make it.

Yeah.

And—

You know, like last year I think we won 46 games and ultimately didn't make the playoffs, you know? And so this reminds me of a year like that, you know, where—

Right.

There, there'll probably be teams with equal amount, like it'll come down to tiebreakers.

Yes.

Highly likely.

Probably.

See this one come down to tiebreakers. For sure.

For sure.

And so it, it's crazy, but I was like, I, we were, I was in the cold tub today. And I was looking at Houston's, the remaining of their schedule. They play at the Lakers, at the Clippers, home versus Denver for their last game. And I said, man, what do the NBA know that they got this schedule? Like, how did this happen?

They got a crack in that game.

It's crazy. Like, you look at the sport that we had, we just had where it was like Memphis.

It was up. Lakers. Denver.

Like, how did they nail this? Us versus the Clippers, the last game of the season. Like, it's crazy. Yeah, it's crazy how it all worked out, man.

But, um—

Storylines, baby. Absolutely.

AD back, storyline, game winner, fighting for a play-in position. You know, like, it's cracking right now. Basketball is cracking.

Yes, it is. Shout out to the NBA.

You doing it again. Shout out to the NBA.

Melo, first ballot Hall of Famer. Congrats.

Yes, sir.

I FaceTimed Melo soon as I saw the news. He didn't answer. I just saw my phone earlier today. He called me right back. I never seen it. So I need to hit Melo. But happy as hell for Melo, man. First ballot Hall of Famer. Rightfully so, well deserved, as expected. But you can never be too sure about that, you know? And I'm happy as hell for Melo. I know you played with Melo during the Knicks tape era.

Yeah.

First, you know—

Prime time.

What's—

That's what I call him.

What's something you remember about playing with Melo during that time?

I think, At that time, Melo, there was a big misperception about Melo not being a team guy. Melo was a great guy to be around, right? He wanted to win, right? He want, like for one, you rarely find a superstar that wants to, all the pressure, right? Like that man don't feel no pressure, right? And I was saying my Knicks tape era, we all became like a tight bond. So Melo was prime time. We knew that. We knew that Melo is the dude that's gonna go out and can get 50.

For sure.

He could sneeze and get 50. But he was generous with his celebrity. He was generous with his aura. He was generous with his light. Right? That's what really allowed the Knicks tape thing to happen, right? 'Cause when Melo was bought into it, everybody else was bought into it. And we was all, I'm telling you, man, we was like a rap crew.

Yeah.

Like we was moving around like a rap crew. And it was ride or die, right? Like no matter, no matter what problems we got into on and off the court, like we was all, we was all together. Like off the court we was just hanging. You know, he treat everybody to dinner on the court. You know, he was at a time where he wanted to win a championship.

Mm-hmm.

So to see him transition to like, with Mike Woodson, and it's like, what do I have to do to be a champion? Right? To take that step and to see that, you know, what we had with the Mixtape era, I thought they had, you know, similar to what they have now. Opportunity to move towards getting to the championship. But I say as far as like one of the coldest scorers and somebody don't even need a dribble to get a shot off, you know, pressure is nothing to this man, right? A double team is nothing to this man. And to see my boy prime, I remember— Draymond Green. When I was like 24, 25 going to Baltimore and he was chilling on my homeboy couch. We was just talking about hoop. Then the night before he won the NCAA championship game, he was at my house in New Orleans before the Final Four. I went and scooped him up. So, you know, to see somebody that you've been a part of their journey and then to be their teammate, to see their evolution, right? As a Hall of Famer, I mean, first ballot, he is well deserving. Then when you look at, All the points. There's a lot of points. Steph Curry just passed Reggie Miller.

Yep.

Bro, that's a lot of points.

That's a whole bunch of points, man.

Like when you think about Steph Curry, it's like, damn, Steph Curry, what, 24 now?

Yes, 24.

You think Melo, Melo top 10.

Top 10.

That's a lot of points, bro.

That's a lot of points.

That's a lot of buckets.

First ballot indeed. No question.

That's like 40 on an off night type shit.

Like started off the game and somewhere found a rhythm and ended up with 40.

Yeah, yeah.

Could have had zero in the first quarter or two in the first quarter, just didn't have it going. And then went to the free throw line a couple times and was like, wait a minute. Pow pow. Like, yeah. Now I had the opportunity obviously to play with Melo. In 2016 with Team USA. And you know, that was our OG. That's our vet. You know, that was, I think that was Melo's 4th gold medal, 3rd gold medal, 3rd or 4th gold medal. Let me see, he won in '08, '12, '16. Yes, but it was his 4th Olympics 'cause he played in '04.

Right.

And so, you know, that was our OG, man. We had a, you know, he, Melo was in the mix with everything, you know, he telling us what to expect against certain teams, you know what I'm saying? Like, 'cause that was my first Olympics, you know? And so he was in the mix and he scored the basketball, man. Melo scored in the Olympics. Obviously Melo scored in the NBA, but Melo was team Olympic scorer.

Yeah.

Which, which is a different thing. Like that's, that mean you on the team with LeBron James, you on the team with Kobe Bryant, you on the team like Kevin Durant. And they're saying this is the one we're all picking. Like this is gonna be our team score. Like that says so much, man.

Yeah.

Like this is Team USA. That's the best basketball team in the world. And Melo was the go-to scorer. And so I think like, just even with that, I'll never forget we had a little situation. And we had a little situation in Brazil. And after the little situation happens, we have like a 2.5-hour meeting. And I call him Doc, Mr. Colangelo, Jerry. Jerry. I call him Jerry Doc. So Doc, they went up there meeting, Coach K say something, and then Doc's just up there going, and he going on and on and on, man. And we all just sitting there taking it on the chin, taking it on the chin, whole team taking it on the chin. And we all sitting there taking it on the chin. Finally, after like 2 hours, Melo was like, Hey Jerry, we got it. We all grown men. Yeah.

We got it.

Let's move on now. Draymond Green, God's gonna have to go home. You gonna be kicked outta the league. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we just sitting there, everybody like, all right, all right, you know, nobody said finally Mellow OG. Mellow was like, all right Jerry, We got it. Meeting ended right there. That was the end.

Yeah, that was it.

All right, Dre, we got it. We all grown men. We good. That was the end of it. So, you know, I've had, you know, just, and having the opportunity to share that experience with such a great, like, Melo. Man, well-deserved, well-deserved.

Well-deserved.

An interesting topic that—

That jersey about to get retired too with the Knicks.

It's definitely getting retired with the Knicks and I think it also should get retired with Denver.

I do too. I think—

The reason I think it should get retired with Denver is because Melo spent just about the same amount of time with Denver as he spent with the Knicks and what he did in a Denver Nuggets jersey Like Melo, when you think of Denver Nuggets and the baby blue jerseys, you first think of Melo.

That's it.

Because Melo made that like culturally cool. He was the promoter. Yeah, he was like the person making the Denver Nuggets culturally cool and had a great start to his career with the Denver Nuggets. I think with the Denver Nuggets, Melo scored like 14,000 points or something like that.

That's crazy.

Like definitely deserve to have his jersey retired. And I know, you know, everybody's like, oh, but Joker got the number, he should get it retired. Just like other guys are grandfathered in, he grandfathered in and his is getting retired anyway.

Right.

But both, both things can be true. Both, both guys can have their jersey retired. I think— It can be the same. If I'm not mistaken, I think there's a jersey at Michigan State that's retired, the number's retired twice. If I'm not mistaken. They do that. I'm almost certain it is. And this is a case where that should happen. Definitely should get retired with the Knicks. And the one thing, you know, the one argument that people would try to use versus, the one argument that people would try to use versus Melo in Denver is that, oh, but Joker got a championship, Melo ain't win a championship. Denver wasn't just winning championships and, and, but they won't necessarily use that with the Knicks, right? They won't necessarily use that with the Knicks because the Knicks haven't won in so long. But man, forget that. Melo jersey should be retired in both places. And I hope both of those places we are at the game and get retired against.

Dwight Howard named to the Hall of Fame as well this weekend. Shout out to Dwight. One of the most dominant centers. I mean, You know, you talk about somebody who was just a freak of nature, right? You know, just athletically gifted, smart, right? Knew how to cover. You talk about, you know, Defensive Player of the Year. You, you were scared to go to the hole 'cause he was sending it to half court, right? And you know, when he first got in the league, he was a force.

Yes.

It was impossible to stop Dwight Howard. Impossible to stop Dwight Howard. Um, and to see him being honored in this way as a champion, as an Olympian, um, I always said that he should, he should definitely be, uh, a Hall of Fame based on, you know, his dominance, right? His dominance for, uh, I would say his peak time in the league. And then also when he came back, for somebody to be so dominant, to come back and be a great role player is a— and want to be a role player is a testament also to his character and his teammanship.

Absolutely. Uh, nah, man, congrats to Dwight. I got the opportunity to play against Dwight, um, with the Lakers and then with Houston. I think I did play— I think I'm almost certain I played Dwight with the Lakers. Yeah, I played Dwight with the Lakers and then with Houston. Um, but Dwight, like you said, always was a force defensively, the way he held the paint down. Offensively, gifted dunks. Yeah. Um, developed a jump hook. Uh, didn't start his career with a right-hand jump hook, developed a jump hook. Like Dwight, man, I'm happy to see him get his due because I also thought Dwight should have been on the top 75 team.

Me too.

And for Dwight not to be on the top 75 team, I thought that was crazy. Like that didn't make sense to me. And so to see Dwight get his due, I hope this is fulfilling for him because man, did he earn it. And he deserved to be celebrated. I think a lot of people has tried to throw dirt on Dwight's name like Dwight wasn't him. Yeah.

And I hate— Dwight was that guy.

You know what I'm saying? I don't like that. A lot of people done threw a lot of dirt on Dwight name and I don't like it. So to see him get his due, I'm extremely happy for Dwight. Well deserved. Had playoff battles against Dwight. Shout out to him, man. Also shout out to the rest of the class.

Yeah.

Dwight's actually going in twice. So is Melo. They're both going in. With the 2008 US Olympic Redeemed team.

That's fire.

They both played on, so shout out to them for that. We got WNBA icon Sue Bird.

Sue Bird.

Maya Moore, Sylvia Fowles. I also got, had the opportunity to spend time with all three of them. They were all three on the Olympic team in 2016, you know, so shout out to them, well deserved. Coach Billy Donovan.

Yeah.

Is going into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Referee Danny Crawford.

That's my guy.

Is going into the, I like Danny as well. Going to the, I played against Danny's son, Drew Crawford at—

Danny look at you like this.

At Northwestern. Yeah. So I like Danny a lot as an official. Danny's going in. And last but not least, the owner of the Miami Heat organization, Mickey Arison.

I think he has. It's going there. It's well deserved. Absolutely.

Congratulations to the 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame.

Basketball Hall of Fame.

Yeah. Incredible. I can only hope to one day experience that.

You will.

Shout out to them, man. That is incredible. Job well done, ladies and gentlemen. TV timeout. Steve Francis has some choice words for you recently. He said, He would beat you in one-on-one. Do you think BD can see me one-on-one?

Why don't y'all just go play again since everybody want to hoop now and play one-on-ones again?

Well, everybody want that war. That's the LADC thing. If BD want to see me, BD, you know where I'm at.

I see. So who win in one-on-one? He said he would body you.

You was too small. I'mma go glass on him.

Left-handed.

Glass? Left-handed?

Glass!

What is your response to that?

Oh man, come on, man. Hey, hey, hey. And the funny thing is, is all weekend he done called me about 17 times with about 8 people on the FaceTime, like, "Light it up." Like, man, come on, don't play with me, bro. I'm not the one to play with when it comes to ones. I mean, he know that.

Ask him.

Are you in good enough shape right now today to play one-on-one versus Steve Francis and Beadle? I'm in better shape. You see me getting in better shape.

I see you slimming down.

Yeah, you see me starting to slim down, man. All I need is 3 weeks in the gym. Nobody can guard me.

Okay, so how can we set this up? Like what needs to happen? What need to happen for to set up you versus Steve Francis in one-on-one? Because he called you out, BD.

That's cool. That's cool.

Like what need to happen? How much money need to be on the table?

Man, put the money up.

Like, what, what, like, how can we make this happen?

And we can play for a pack of Nylators, bro. I ain't tripping. It don't matter. You can play.

Do you want to play it up?

You can put up Nylators up. Me and Steve, Steve Francis, he was not serious. That's what I'm trying to tell you.

So he don't want to play?

No, he's not serious.

He don't want to play.

He just reminiscing from when we used to play against each other.

Right.

And Steve Francis know what time it is. I ripped Steve Francis at half court.

Need I say more? Oh man, you get ripped at half court, you tired. You get ripped at half court, you tired. Shout out to Bassey, that was my favorite. One of my favorite plays of all time.

Steve, Steve, you know you don't want this.

You ripped him at half court, BD?

Come on, man. Ain't nobody playing. Come on, ask him. In Houston.

I ripped Darren Williams in the NBA Finals at half court. Maybe even behind half court.

Yeah.

You get ripped at half court, you tired.

It's tired, big time.

So do you wanna play MBD? Oh, you said he don't wanna play though. He don't wanna play.

I don't really think he wanna play, but But what if he do? Then that's an easy win, bro.

Oh, so would you play him if he really wanna play?

Yeah, I would play him. Draymond, do you know what I would do to him? I would just back him down and lay the ball up over the rim. Same thing I would do to you.

That's crazy. Don't do that. Stay in your weight class.

But I gotta lift weights.

Stay in your weight class. Give me something big. You boxing out your weight class now. Stay in your weight class, BD. Boxing out your weight class.

Hakeem Olajuwon said it.

From the man himself. From the man himself.

Draymond Green, I'm gonna get you right to the summer. Ah.

Post game. That's fine, but that ain't working out.

One dribble, Danny Manning jump hook. Two dribbles, Danny Manning jump hook. Two dribbles, spin, dream shake, fade to the post. Up and under. You know what? I'm gonna send you the highlight package, bro.

I don't care about your highlights. You boxing out your weight class, brother. This is different. This is different. This is— you better go play. Don't— don't— Franchise, you got this man tripping.

So you see how I feel about Steve Francis.

Now, so now it's hard for me to believe that you really believe what you saying about Franchise because I know you don't believe That's what you saying to me.

Bro, anybody, just throw out a name.

Draymond Green.

Not even a chance one-on-one.

Throw out another name.

Stop it. They should put me at the halftime one-on-one. I should be in that right now.

Man, stop it.

Who can guard me?

Who can't is the question.

Who can't guard me?

You the cone on offense. Who can't guard me? Ain't going around no cone, you the law.

That's all I see. I was seeing people, people was cones before they even had cones. I was using real people as cones.

Now you the cone, can't go nowhere. Brother can't go nowhere. Hey, all I gotta do is put Steve Francis on his hips and his knees gonna buckle. Oh, franchise don't take the disrespect.

He can barely walk standing up.

You can't take this disrespect, man. Hey, he brittle.

Hey, hey, hey, Draymond Green, come on, man.

You know how we get down.

It's defense first. He brittle. He is brittle. He is brittle, dude. Oh, come on, man.

We— Oh my God.

This is crazy. We 40 plus, he old. I'm not old, he's old. He's brittle, man. I push him on his hip one time, boom, it's over.

Franchise, don't take this slander, man. Don't take this slander, Franchise.

Hey, he donezo. Hey, listen, he done. We ain't even gonna get no crossover. Ain't gonna be no crossing over, no moves. Soon as he make his first move, I'mma push him. Game over.

You win by disqualification. He can't continue on.

How many fouls I get? How many fouls I get? That's all I need.

That's hilarious.

But I'll play you one-on-one, bro.

I'm not— No, don't do that. Don't waste your time.

We gonna play. No, we gonna play one-on-one.

All post.

Perfect.

All post.

High post, low post, from the wing, and then we gonna let everybody in the nation know how bad I beat you. Yeah.

Draymond won that spot 5-1. The next spot 5-0. Next spot I just—

Nasae.

Nasae.

Nasae.

Nasae.

Nasae.

Nasae. Nasae.

I'm not saying you Aaron Gordon, but Aaron Gordon, he did the same thing. He was like, "O.G., I wanna work out with you, you know, trying to get right, get my guard skills right." So I was working him out, but he was really like, "Man, I wanna, you know, I'm gonna be playing a little bit of guard, so I need to guard a guard." I was like, "Man, like, what you wanna play, one-on-one?" He was like, "Yeah." I was like, "All right, let me get 2 days." Right. Ask Aaron Gordon. He was my last victim. I'm trying to think who else was a victim of mine.

Um, well, your clock is ticking. I'm giving you 2 months.

You know, hey, Dub Nation, cast your vote. Who do you think is going to win 5 spots, all posts?

I just, I, I just—

Draymond Green.

I just gave you a 2-month heads up. A 2-month heads up you got. So that should be enough time for you to—

I gotta go get me some old man muscles and shit.

Good luck with that. But even more so than that, Franchise said run the ones. He called you out. That's crazy. And you scared.

Run 'em, bro. Unbelievable. Run the thing.

Way to call him out, Franchise. He don't want no smoke. Stall him out, D-Bo.

Man, Franchise gotta be able to walk when he's 60, bro.

D'Bo Francis, stall him out.

Still don't want that, man. Nobody do, really. If I got 2 months to get in shape, nobody's beating me.

There it is.

Nobody's beating me one-on-one, bro.

You got the 2 months, good luck.

I'm gonna work out with the dudes in the league. I've been watching and I'm like, You know, I got hurt. I wish somebody would have retired me and been like, damn dude, I can't keep up with him. But it ain't never happened.

Well, it had to happen.

Nah, I just missed the boat. I just missed the boat. You know, the boat just passed, the ship sailed. The ship sailed. Nobody was watching like, damn, BD ain't got it no more. It was never that. It was just, They just stopped thinking about me. Everybody else was in line. I didn't know I had to be in line too when it was, when it was time to fill out them training camp roster spots.

Got him on out of here.

Getting up out of here.

Oh man.

All right. Lastly, JJ Redick recently talked about how he doesn't like the Most Improved Player of the Year award.

I don't like that award. Just call it the high draft pick that is on a max contract and now is an all-star. Just call it that award.

Who's that guy?

Because that's what it's become. You're making the case for Austin.

Am I wrong?

But he wouldn't be that guy. John McClain won it, Bobby Simmons won it. No, I'm saying that's what it's become. But we could, you could speak to the voters right now. Who won in the last 5 years, that's where it's become. I don't think that's the spirit of the award.

Because what it represents nowadays, calling it a high draft pick on a max contract, but now he's an All-Star Award. Do you agree?

So when JJ said this, I was like, man, JJ must've woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I saw the interview and it just looked like he said it out of nowhere. I mean, I saw his response and it just looked like he said, I don't know where I was like, JJ could not have been having a good day today when I saw it. And then I went and looked up the list of who's won. And I was like, oh my God. Why did JJ Redick know this? I'm like, why did he know this? Like, 'cause he got a point.

Big point.

Like when you think of most improved and you look at these guys, 15th pick, Giannis, which we can all agree should have never been a 50. But second pick, Oladipo. Pascal Siakam is one that I'd agree with. Pascal Siakam got so much better. I remember playing against Pascal Siakam and I was like, why? Like, I don't understand why the Rockets got him at the 4. They kind of playing him in the corner, but he can't shoot. Like, and then he came back the next year and was nice. And I was like, oh man. Like— Yeah. Wait, how this dude get this much better this fast?

He made it.

And so Pascal Siakam, cool, great. I agree. Brandon Ingram was the second pick. Julius Randle, seventh pick. Ja Morant, second pick. Lauri Markkanen, seventh pick. Tyrese Maxey, I can agree with. 21st pick, did not play as a rookie. Like, I can agree with that. But like, outside of that, I agree with JJ. Like, yeah, he make, he make great, great points.

You can't, I don't think you should be a lottery pick and be able to get most improved player. I think that should go to really second round picks, you know, people. But the, the one thing about Brandon Ingram that I do like is it took him a while to get there.

It did. It did take him a while to get there.

You know, but even he was the number 2 pick, but it did take him a while to get there and he showed. For sure. Improvement, improvement, and he showed a big leap. I think the same thing with John Morant. Like, he made— it's almost like you got to make that big leap, that big step. Um, but when you're a high draft pick, that's what's expected.

That's expected. Like, they drafted you that high for a reason.

So you should— like, I mean, it's just a— it's, it's an award that should go to— they should do a little bit more research, right? Like, it's deserving for someone who made a big leap that didn't even get the chance, or somebody who like was a second round pick or a late first round pick that, you know, all of a sudden like got an opportunity to play and like made something out of that situation. Like being a high draft pick, being an all-star, like that's what you expect of yourself.

Yeah.

That's what expected of you when you're a top 10, you know, top, top 15 pick, really a top 10 pick, right? It's expected to be an all-star. That's why they— So the Draymond Green Most Improved, like, you know, that is, I don't know, it should be defined. I mean, they should just redefine all these awards because the accuracy is JJ was on point with that one. I gotta give him credit.

He got his shit off with that one for sure. Who you got winning the championship tomorrow? You got Florida, you got Houston, you got Houston. Let's place a little wager. I'll take Florida. Those Cal— Kelvin Sampson is my guy.

That's my guy. I'm not going against my guy.

I really wanna see—

Kelvin Sampson.

I mean, I'll take Florida for the sake of betting, but I'm rooting for Kelvin Sampson.

Yeah, I'm going for Houston all the way.

All right, bet with them. What's the bet?

Whatever you want. Whatever the bet, whatever, whatever.

Bet, I'll shoot you a text on what's the bet.

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

We appreciate y'all for tuning in. That's a wrap from this episode of the Draymond Green Show with the legend Baron Davis. Until next time, folks.

Peace.

Peace.