Reaction to Warriors-Grizzlies Game 1, flagrant foul & Jordan Poole's attitude | 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. If you didn't catch it, we recorded an emergency episode yesterday to talk about the flagrant 2 ejection. I'd recommend going back and listening to that because I gave my full thoughts on it, what I thought, would happen, or should happen. And yeah, I thought it would, you know, I think it's pretty good for you to check out. But now, here we are one day later, same place, different time. But we're gonna, we will talk about that again, but more importantly, I will go in depth on the Warriors and Grizzlies Game 1. And we'll also talk about the Game 1 between Boston and Milwaukee. And then I'll give you my thoughts leading into the Suns-Mavericks and Heat-Sixers series, and how I think those series will play out. We got some injuries. Both of those other series that really can sway the series one way or the other. We're dealing with injury ourselves with Andre Iguodala. Obviously James Wiseman has been out all year, and then Steven Adams, who's been in COVID protocol, who may possibly be back tomorrow. I'm not sure if he will or not. But, you know, everybody's been dealing with it, and, you know, that's a part of it. But we'll talk about all of that. Number one, let's get right into it. NBA does not rescind the flagrant 2. They don't downgrade it. No surprise there. I said yesterday, if you're looking for an idiot, look no further than Draymond Green. That statement rings true again. As I said yesterday, I'm looking forward to them rescinding it. And they didn't have a good explanation. You know, they never have a good explanation. Sometimes they don't even give an explanation. Mm-hmm. So the explanation to me wasn't good. They didn't really wanna explain it to me. They told Bob to tell me. So, you know, when I look back on my suspension from Game 5 of the NBA Finals— so the way this works, for those who don't understand, is in the playoffs, whether you— which is ridiculous, by the way— but in the playoffs, whether you are in the first round and lose, or you go to the NBA Finals. You get the same amount of texts, you get the same amount of flagrant foul points, you get the same amount of everything. It's one of those old outdated rules that doesn't make any sense, and no one takes the time to change them because why? And the reality is, is that one— Draymond Green. I'd love for someone to explain to me how someone could lose in game, or in round 1, and another team can go on a possible 3 more rounds, and they still have the same number of techs they're allowed to get, or the same number of flagrant foul points. But how it does work is you get 7 technical fouls before suspension. In the playoffs. That's the entire playoffs. That's not per series. And you get 4 flagrant foul points. Now, how the flagrant foul points work, for those that don't understand, is if you get a flagrant 1, that is 1 point. If you get a flagrant 2, that is 2 points. If you get 4 points total, you get a 1-game suspension. Which is how I got suspended from Game 5. I have 4 points total. Mm-hmm. And I was suspended for a game. I also received a foul after the fact. My flagrant foul was given to me after the fact. And I tried to hit him and missed when LeBron stepped over me. I received a foul. Funny thing is, you know, the funny thing about it to me is 3 of my flagrant foul points that I received to— to eventually end up missing Game 5. The NBA went back and reviewed them. They went back to the tape after the game, reviewed it, and upgraded me to flagrant fouls. Upgraded. They don't quite go back and upgrade anyone else to flagrant fouls. That's not really a thing. You know, we've seen plays this playoffs that could have possibly been upgraded to flagrant fouls. You may have seen me say in the Denver series when Bones Hyland kneeed Otto Porter, I got suspended from a game for that. They added a rule after I was suspended that year for knees to the groin as a flagrant one. As you see, Otto Porter did not receive a flagrant one. That rule is essentially the Draymond Green rule. So they may as well add this one too and say no one else gets upgraded and that is the Draymond rule. And that's fine. Again, it's a badge of honor. I don't run from it. It is what it is. Your thoughts are your thoughts. I really don't care. They asked me today, they said, "Are you going to, now that you have 200,000 followers, are you going to tone down the bite?" No. No, I'm gonna be me. Because if I tone down who I am, A, you probably never would have known who I am. B, I wouldn't have had the success that I've had. And C, and most importantly, even if I made it to the NBA, I wouldn't still be sitting here today. So why would I tone that down? Why would I stop being me? I can be me better than I can be anyone else in this world. And I can also be me better than anyone else can be me. So if I do that best, why do anything else? That does not make sense to me. I don't understand when people do a job or do a thing and they say, oh, I need to do it this way. That's not organic to you. And if it's not organic to you, you can only take that so far. Like, you can only act for so long. You can only be someone else for so long. And— —than being somebody else. Is that even fun? I don't know. I can't give you an answer to that because I'm only me. I'm only gonna be me. Good, bad, or indifferent. Like it or not. I'm just gonna be me. And that's worked for me way better than me trying to be somebody else. I remember coming into the NBA my rookie year, and I was playing the 3 position. —and I was kind of just spotting up and shooting. I'm like, I'm not a spot-up shooter. I can make a shot, but I'm not a spot-up shooter. And at that moment after my rookie year, I said, listen, I just gotta do this my way. And if I fail doing it my way, I can go home and say I gave it everything that I had. And because I gave it everything that I had, I can live with the result. But if I go out like I played this year, my rookie year, trying to still play this type of basketball, and I don't make it, I'm not gonna be able to live with myself because I didn't do me. And at that point, I told myself, no matter what the situation is, I'm gonna always be true— stay true to who I am and be me. You see, like, guys go into media after playing and all of a sudden turn into cowards. Like, and rats. Supposed to be tough guys and turn into rats. Like, I can't be that guy. It just won't work for me. I don't care the amount of money you offer. I don't care the amount of appearances you offer. I just— I can't be that guy. I have to be me. Which was one of the reasons I ended up signing with Turner, because they allowed me to be me. They want me to be me. Mm-hmm. And that's the only way I can do the job, is if I'm allowed to be Draymond Green. And so in saying that, for me to, "Oh, I'mma tone it back," like, tone what back? I didn't think that was a flagrant 2, so there's not much to tone back there. So again, if I'm supposed to take an even softer foul in the middle of the playoffs, then I'll probably just end up suspended. And no, do I wanna end up suspended from a game? No, but I'm also not trying to give up an and-1, because those points matter. One point game last night. Everybody always look at basketball and say, "Man, did you see Ja Morant miss the layup? That's when they lost the game." They didn't lose the game on that layup. One point is one point, whether it's scored then or scored in the first quarter. That one point still matters to the end tally of the game, the ending total, the final score. That one point matters. Everybody gets it all misconstrued and say, "Oh man, such and such made this play down the stretch and that's why they lost." That play may have changed something in that instant, but you better believe there was a play in the second quarter that played a role in that team losing. And this is not just the Memphis Grizzlies, this is basketball or sports as a whole. Yeah. That plays a role in it as well. A play in the second quarter may have totally changed the momentum, and that one swing could have cost you the game. And when you learn to watch film like that, when you learn to watch sports like that, in particular I'm speaking of basketball, now you learn how to watch like a coach. Now you learn how to watch like someone who can really thoroughly evaluate a game. And— And so for me, I'm not trying to give up an and-one. And if I need to take a foul softer than I did and try to hold the guy up from falling to the floor, then I'm sorry, but I don't know what to tell you. What I would ask for is, you know, there's— this seems to be a common theme, excessive. What's excessive? Like Damian Lillard tweeted, "What actually is excessive?" Because— We're all human beings, and my definition of excessive and your definition of excessive is to make— be two totally different things. And if they are two totally different things, which most likely they are, because we're two totally different people with two totally different feelings, two totally different views on things. And so if your view, which it probably is, of something excessive is different than my view, then it just becomes "Oh, well, I think that was excessive." And so now, it's just based on a person's opinion. You know, when you look at the replay system, the fans— well, before I talk about the replay system, and we'll roll into that, the fans start chanting, "Throw him out! Throw him out!" Like I said yesterday, Officials are human beings. So they want to feel gratification from people as well, because they are human beings. They're not robots. They're actual people who, like, actually go home to their family, to their kids, to their significant others. Those are real people with real feelings. If I hear a crowd going crazy saying, "Throw him out," I don't wanna be booed. I don't mind being booed, but most people mind being booed. I actually love the boos. I'm looking forward to tomorrow 'cause I know I'm gonna get a bunch of 'em. That's going to be fantastic. I really feed off the boos. I love the boos. But most people don't. Most people hate being booed because most people thrive off of gratification and not self-gratification. They thrive off of other people pumping them up, other people cheering for them. Most people thrive off of that. And so because of that, you review these plays in Secaucus, New Jersey, the NBA Replay Center. Why doesn't the decision come from there? Someone who's not in the emotion of a game, someone who's watching the play and saying, I thought this happened. I am not the ones that gotta get booed by the crowd if I make this call, blah, blah, blah. Why doesn't the decision come from there? Because the decision coming from someone who I could have just said something to and pissed off about a call, and now they need to make a decision like that. Again, you can't tell me that the human element does not play a role in that. I am a human being too. I know how things can sway me one way or the other. Yeah. And so why isn't the emotions of the game taken out? Do you think an official comes in the game and does not have emotion? No, of course, of course they have emotion. The way to take the emotions out of a game is that call comes from Secaucus, someone who's not in, let alone in the building or on the court, someone who's not even in the same city, let alone state. There's no city NBA team in New Jersey anymore. Not even in the same state. That's one way of guys really appreciating the integrity of the game. That's one way of totally removing the emotion that a referee may feel during a particular game. And so, you know, um— Yeah. It is what it is. They're not gonna reduce it. Can I say I'm surprised? Of course not. This is me you're talking about. And like I said, I wear that badge of honor. So whatever. Moving on to the actual game, which I thought was a very good game. I thought in the first quarter and starting the game, we did okay with our game plan, but not great. We didn't take— the offensive rebounds away, they got plenty second chance opportunities, and that gave them momentum. They really feed off that. They get guys going off of that. And so, to start the game, I thought we needed to play a little tougher and we need to rebound better. As the game went on, especially as we got into that second quarter and got our foot in it, and, you know, started to figure it out, we really started to rebound the ball better. And as you can see, I think Jordan Poole ended with 9 rebounds, 8 or 9 rebounds. That's big time. Yeah. Jonathan Kuminga come off the bench in limited minutes, 6 rebounds. That's big time. You know, and the list goes on and on. But that team, our coaching staff told us, they said the game starts when we shoot the ball and when they shoot the ball. And pretty much what they were saying is just like, when we shoot the ball, they're coming. I mean, you got Ja Morant, who's probably the fastest guy in the NBA. They're looking for him, he's getting the ball, and he's coming full speed. And everybody else is running with him and also trailing him for 3s. So when you say the game starts when they shoot or we shoot, that's how it starts when they shoot. When we shoot. When they shoot, it starts because they crash the offensive rebound. Like, not many teams that I've seen in the NBA. And that's a huge part of their offense, generating second chance points. Second chance points. So. I feel like in going into the game, it's hard to tell someone that and get you to understand it because you can't really simulate that. And so I've once, you know, it took us about a quarter to figure out. And once we figured it out, I think we rebounded the ball really well. 'Cause guys understood that it has, it's a 5-guy job. It's not a 1-guy job. It's not 2 guys' job. It's a 5-man job. And everyone has to come back in and rebound. I think we did a great job of that. Which ultimately propelled us and allowed us to be in a position to win that game. And that was really huge for us. I thought Jordan Poole, the way he came off the bench and played, especially with Klay Thompson getting in foul trouble right away, he looked just like Jordan Poole from games 1, 2, and 3 of the first series. He had a little bit of a struggle those last 2 games, which is— Yeah. To be expected. If I'm not mistaken, the kid had played like 29 games. 29 straight very good games. Like, at some point, you have to have a bad one. And, you know, he had a rough one in Game 4. Better game in Game 5. He just didn't shoot as well, but he had a much better game in Game 5 of the Denver series. And then yesterday, he broke out again and had an incredible game, 31, 9, and 8. It's funny. I was saying in my press conference earlier today, Jordan has irrational confidence. Jordan, I don't have that confidence that Jordan has. Most people don't have that confidence that Jordan has. It's a little irrational. Like, why would Jordan Poole think, I'm on the floor with Steph Curry, I'm on the floor with Klay Thompson, I should have the ball, I should be taking these shots. It's very irrational. But you need guys like that. When you're going to do great things, you need guys with irrational confidence. Mm-hmm. That's what makes them great. And so, you know, for Steph Curry to shoot the way Steph Curry shoots, you have to have irrational confidence to do that. For Klay Thompson to shoot the way he's supposed to shoot, you have to be a bit irrational. And Jordan Poole has irrational confidence. It showed last night. I mean, he played like, "Yeah, I'm supposed to be in this moment, and I'm supposed to play well." It's like, actually— "you're probably not supposed to be in this moment, and you're not supposed to play that well." But because he has irrational confidence, and I say that with envy because I wish I had irrational confidence, it's a beautiful thing. And he goes right to that stage. He shows up like it's his stage, like he belongs there. He delivers the game he had, and we come out with the win in spite of me getting ejected, in spite of— Draymond Green. Draymond Green, Klay, Wiggins, and Steph combining for 9 for 27 from the 3. In spite of the blocked charge call, which could have went either way, in spite of the out-of-bounds call that ended up being a jump ball and we lost and they scored 2 points off of it, in spite of all the things that went wrong for us, we still were able to come out with that win. And that says a lot. Yeah. —and Jordan Poole was a key point in that. I just mentioned Steph, Klay, and Wiggins, uh, combining for 9 for 27 from 3. Uh, that is a testament to a battle-tested team. That is a testament to a team that knows how to win a game— win games. Because there was no way we should have won that game. I just don't believe we should have won the game. But we found a way. And that's the playoffs. It's not always gonna be pretty. It's not always gonna be Steph Curry going for, having a Curry flurry, as people call him, and going for 40, or Klay Thompson scoring 37 points in a— it won't always be that way. Sometimes you have to win 'em ugly. But when you win 'em ugly, especially in a Game 1, there's no better way of winning. And so I thought that was a great thing. I don't expect those guys to shoot the way they did. And the thing is, It's like, there were quite a few open ones, and they just didn't go down. So, you know, if we can get those same shots, I love it. Overall, I was very proud of my guys in stepping up. You know, we spoke about it before they left the locker room, like, "Hey, man, go deliver a gut punch. Go out there and take the game." And we went out there and took it, and it was a beautiful thing to see, and I think that sets us up well for this series. Mm-hmm. 'Cause we didn't play great. So if we come back in game 2 and we play great, I think if we play great, we win. I always felt that way. If we play great and another team play great, I think we win. It's not necessarily the truth, but that's what I feel and I believe. So, hopefully we're— I don't think we've played very well since game 3. Not even really since game 2. And so I think, you know, I think one of those games are brewing, and I'm hoping so. It can come at a great time if it comes tomorrow. [SPEAKING SPANISH]