Reaction to Warriors in Japan, Ben Simmons Nets debut & Westbrook rumors | 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. Training camp is underway. I am back home, home from Japan where we played 2 preseason games against the Washington Wizards. 2 wins. And so we are riding a 5-game winning streak. As you know, dating back to none other than whooping Jackson's Celtics. Um, they're in a bit of a, a bit of turmoil right now. Uh, not sure how the return to the Finals looks, but you know, um, resiliency allows the teams to show their true character, so You know, we'll get to see the true character of the Boston Celtics, uh, led by none other than the young GOAT, young next greatest, Jayson Tatum. Um, and I think he will do an incredible job adjusting to everything that's going on, leading his troops. Uh, but that's neither here nor there. Let's get right into it. Uh, the Dubs trip to Japan. Uh, first off, absolutely amazing trip. Yeah. Um, Japan's incredible, one of my favorite places in the world. The food is amazing, the people are amazing, it's beautiful. It's like, it's like New York City with Central Park all around it. What do I mean by that? It's very, you know, you have the big buildings, you have some of the buildings very tight together like Times Square. Um, You know, you have the big city feel, 14 million people in Tokyo, if I'm not mistaken, um, or somewhere near there. Only 8 million people in New York, so to give you a perspective of the size of Tokyo. Um, very vibrant city, bunch of things to do, great shopping. The one thing that Tokyo has on New York City, and probably just about any other place in the world, is it has to be the cleanest place in the world. I've heard Singapore is clean like that. I've never been. But Tokyo, if I dropped my steak on the ground, I'll pick it up, not dust it off, and eat the entire steak. I mean, like, you walk around outside in Tokyo and you don't see any trash cans and you don't see any trash. It's like— It's like the most incredible thing. Like, you walk down the sidewalks and, you know, like, you like just go walk down the sidewalk, I guarantee you it's some like spotted and, you know, it's been dirty and none of that. Like, I mean, it is so clean and it's just peaceful and like it's safe and, you know, it feels good. Like, I mean, it was an amazing trip. And the Japanese fans, the Japanese people, they're so polite. I'm sure you all may have saw the video/meme-like video of James Wiseman free throw and where the crowd goes completely silent. It's almost like a tennis match, you know, when you're watching tennis and while the point is going on, everybody's silent. And then once, you know, once You know, once it breaks, everybody clap, they cheer, and then it's silent. That's how the Japanese fans were when you're shooting free throws. It was one of the most incredible things that I had seen. They're just super polite. They're not very loud. Like, they'll get excited about a play and then it goes back down. And that was a very interesting thing because that arena that we played in, which by the way was the same arena that I had the opportunity to win the gold medal in, which was very special. Mm-hmm. The locker room that we had was actually the locker room that we pour champagne in, and it still smell like champagne in there. Hope y'all understand— understood that reference, uh, i.e., Cleveland. Yeah, uh, great reference. But absolutely incredible, uh, arena, and it's huge. Like, this arena seats 25,000, 26,000 people, and it was sold out. But it's like the Japanese, they're just, they have a totally different way of taking a game in. Number one, there's no heckling. You know, you go to games in America, people spend their hard-earned money to heckle. Like, which I always think is a pretty impressive thing because you spend your money that you work so hard for to ultimately feel worse about yourself. Because in heckling, it's just bad energy. And no matter how you shake it, I don't care how you think it make you feel, what it's doing to your brain and what it's doing to your psyche and your mood, it can't be good because you're just sitting there heckling. So shout out to the hecklers. There were none of those in Japan, which was absolutely incredible. [Japanese] We should take a note out of Japan's book. Japanese fans, you hecklers, you should really try to learn from them. But, you know, it was just a great, great opportunity for us to continue to grow the game of basketball globally, for us to showcase our talents in another country. Rakuten was an absolute great host. And, you know, Rakuten is a partner of the Golden State Warriors, and they were absolutely incredible. My friend Mickey and everything that he's done to, you know, just continuing to grow the game of basketball in Japan is absolutely huge. I had the opportunity to attend a court dedication where refurbished a court, which was absolutely incredible. I had the chance to, you know, interact with some of the kids over there that's taking up the game of basketball. I know you all probably saw where I swatted the shot. And my mom texted me and she said, "Did you apologize?" I'm like, "Apologize for what, Ma?" She's like, "Apologize to the kid." Shot you blocked. She was like, "I saw you like kind of like do this." And I was like, "Oh." When I swatted that shot, that ball went straight at the back and hit a— It's actually a Warriors fan. Sits courtside, it hit him right in the back of the head, in the back of the neck, and, or yeah, in the back of the head and back of his neck. And I mean, the ball was flying. So I turned my back, but I still was able to catch it. And it was a bit rough. And so I apologize for that. But that's why I was doing that. Not necessarily to apologize for the fan. I mean, not the fan, to apologize to the kid. Yeah. No, I'm not apologizing for that at all. That's what's supposed to happen. But that was great. Then we had, um, we had fan night that same day. Uh, I'm sure you all saw Steph and Klay's 3-point, um, experience, as I would like to call it, that everyone had the chance to take in. Uh, that was absolutely amazing to see. Like, you know, The reason that's so incredible to me is because like no matter how great of a shooter those guys are, like you have off nights. And let me explain to you, that day we had the court dedication. I think Klay had another appearance. You know, it was a long process to get to the, to finally get to the moment that you all solved the 3-point contest. It was an entire day thing. So, you know, we didn't have practice that day. So, you know, those guys didn't get a chance to stretch. They didn't get a chance to warm up. It was just like sitting there watching all this stuff. All right, it's time to shoot. And I think they gave them 2 minutes. And then you saw what you saw, which was Steph go absolutely ballistic. And then Klay pick it up and go absolutely ballistic. And why was that incredible to me? I'll tell you why it's incredible to me, because like I said, No matter how great those guys shoot, you have to be a, you know, a showman to do that. Like, when you go and you haven't stretched and you haven't warmed up and all of these things in the day that we had, and then you can go do that, that's like, no, I just need to give this crowd something to cheer about. I just need to give them something to be happy about. And in order to do that, like, it's more to that than just going to shoot the basketball because you're a good shooter. That's like, that's the thing that actually wins you championships. That's the thing that actually make those guys who they are. It's like, oh, there's a crowd here. Oh, they want to show? No problem, I'll do that. Like, that's a whole nother level of mastery. Like, when you can do that thing. And so shout out to Steph and Klay. That was an absolutely incredible thing to watch. Like Klay said, I absolutely loved watching them humble JP, Jordan Poole, that is. That was fun. And then Jordan Poole tried to take the passive-aggressive route, like, "Oh, they only the best shooters in the world." But you weren't talking like that before, JP. So that was absolutely good to see. And that was an incredible night. From those two preseason games, what a couple takeaways that I had. Number one, game one, James Wiseman. I know everyone's hype about the James Wiseman game that he had in game one. I thought his game was beautiful that he played. I thought he played with patience. He ran the floor, he sprinted, he defended well, had some good verticalities. The thing that I was most impressed by, and I know no one will speak about this and no one will talk about it, but it's very important for James Wiseman 'cause those are the things that get you on the floor. It's not, oh man, he had a monster dunk the first play. Although, way to set a tone, big fella. Way to let everybody know I'm back. I'm here. I'm here now. I'm healthy. Let's go. The beautiful tone that the big fella set. But what I was most impressed with, and you may not have been able to see this on the TV, and that's okay, but I'm going to tell you. James Wiseman, the way he communicated on the defensive end. Yeah. The commands that he was calling out with loud as he was talking. I'm not sure James Wiseman knew exactly what he was calling or knew exactly what he was doing, but what I am sure of is that when you hear someone talking like that behind you, it doesn't matter if they know what they're doing. You're going to feel like they know what they're— you've— they know what they're doing because of the confidence that they're speaking with, how loud he was, the volume that he's speaking with. Yeah. And so that's what I thought was absolutely beautiful. I hope, and I know he will continue to keep that up. He's been able to learn from one of the best at it in Kevon Looney. And Loon is an absolutely incredible communicator. For a guy who doesn't talk a ton and didn't used to talk at all, always been an incredible communicator. Although with Loon, we had to kind of pull it outta him like, hey man, you're a little quiet. Like, we know you know what you're doing and we know you know the call, but we need you to speak up more. And he's one of the best communicators around. And James Wiseman has had him to study from, and you can tell he's been studying. See, you never know when a guy's hurt. Like, obviously you want the knee to be healthy, you want the explosion to be there, the quickness, all of those things. You want to see those things, but you never really know how they're advancing mentally because that's the part that you really can't simulate. But what I do know is James Wiseman has been watching a ton of film. He's been taking a lot of things in. As his time off has gone, his rehab process, as he's gone through his rehab process and it showed. And like I said, it did not show from the dunk. It did not show from the 20 and 9. It showed from his communication on the defensive side of the ball. And that's gonna be a very big thing for him to continue to get minutes, for him to continue, for him to help this team. Healthy James Wiseman. A communicative James Wiseman, a James Wiseman who's using those God-given abilities that he has only helps this team win another championship. And it was absolutely beautiful to see. So way to play, Wis. That was absolutely amazing. PBJ has been shooting the lights out the ball those first 2 games. Absolutely incredible to see. Shout out to PBJ. Keep shooting the ball. And those were a couple of my takeaways, obviously. Klay Thompson didn't play. Looking forward to getting Klay back out there on October 9th, as he himself said. I'm looking forward to that. You know, Rick, who's been incredible in managing all of our processes and just managing our bodies, decided that, you know, didn't wanna play Klay right away. And when you got a guy like Rick in your corner, you listen. You don't try to overstep that, especially it's preseason. There's no time for heroes. And so hopefully we'll get a chance to see Klay next weekend. Looking forward to that. But overall, first 2 preseason games, I thought they were absolutely fun. It's kind of crazy to think, man, we just finished playing at the end of June and it's September and we're playing a game again. Absolutely insane. Nonetheless, like I said before, when you're doing that and you won a championship, it's totally different than when you get to the finals and lose, as I have experienced before. So. Draymond Green. We're back. 2-0 in the preseason means nothing but means something because who wants to lose? No one ever wants to lose. So, and shout out to the young guys. There's young guys, we were losing that game, that second game in Japan and our young guys came in and PBJ 4 for 5 from 3, if I'm not mistaken. You know, if not 4 for 5 from 3 last game, he was definitely 4 for 5 from 3 the first game, one of the games. But the way those young guys came in, Q Weatherspoon, they came in, they brought energy. Energy. Ryan Rollins was absolutely incredible. Dante DiVincenzo, absolutely been loving what Dante's doing on the floor. Just another guy that can shoot the ball, knows how to play, gets his nose dirty on the defensive end, rebounds the basketball. That was absolutely great to see. Draymond Green, another guy who just gets it, understands it. Didn't quite get a ton of shots up, as that'll come as people learn and figure out how to play with guys. But that's gonna help us a ton, his shooting ability. So looking forward to that. So overall, positive notes for the Dubs, leaving Japan and returning home. And you know, we've said all along, our training camp really starts now. We had 2 days of practice before we went over to Japan. And over in Japan, everything's just kind of haywire. So we get to finally lock in on camp. I'm looking forward to that. Absolutely incredible start to it. First few days that we had and going to Japan. So looking forward to really locking back in tomorrow. For our practice. That'll be fun. Some other notes from the preseason. Ben Simmons back after 470 days, I saw. It was good to see Ben get back out there on the court. First bucket was a dunk, was absolutely incredible to see. I think Ben is gonna have a great year. With Ben's passing ability, the shooting that he has around him and Kyrie Irving, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, Joe Harris, Seth Curry. Just, I mean, that type of shooting around Ben Simmons, the way he can play, mate. I think he's gonna have a good year. I challenge Ben to not get outside of himself and want to prove to everyone else what they want to see. Forget that, bro. You an all-star, 3-time all-star, all-NBA performer. You're Ben Simmons for a reason. Be Ben Simmons and be the— Yeah. Absolute best Ben Simmons you can be. Fuck what everybody else talking about. I wanna see him shoot a 3. I wanna see him shoot a jump shot. What if he can't? And if he can't, oh well, guess what he can do? And that's what I wanna talk about. What he can do. I'm actually not about to go into it, but you get the point. What can Ben Simmons do? That's what Ben Simmons need to do. Forget what y'all talking about or what you wanna see. You don't matter. What matters is what he go out there and produce. Man, averaging 18, 7, and 7. Y'all talking about he a bum. Stop it. Ironically, Russell Westbrook averaged 18, 7, 7 last year and y'all said he's a bum. So quite frankly, guys, you, you're incredible because 18, 7, and 7 and you a bum? I think that's a kudos to you. So great to see Ben Simmons back out there on the floor. Also, Jamal Murray. Yeah. Back out there on the floor after 570 days, I think it was, to see him back out there on the floor is absolutely incredible. I feel like Denver right now is kind of in that sweet spot of where Joker's humming. You got Jamal Murray coming back. They're trying to put the pieces around those guys. MPJ coming back where, you know, right now is that time for them to start making that push to make that next jump. Yeah. And Jamal Murray, as we know, having your point guard, one of your franchise players back in the fold, that really makes that realistic. So happy to see him back out there, wishing Jamal Murray a healthy season, an incredible season. Welcome back to the floor. And everyone wants to hear about these Laker rumors. What are they? Russell Westbrook almost got traded before camp. Who cares? He didn't. Yeah. Russell Westbrook might get traded. Who cares? He hasn't. I think for me, the Lakers, what will be interesting is just to see how everything meshes together. You know, who's gonna play what position? Does AD play the 5? Does AD stay at the 4? Does LeBron move to the 4? Does he stay at the 3? Does Patrick Beverly start? Does he not? Does Kendrick Nunn start? What's what? I think, you know, you just have to let the preseason play out with those guys and kind of see how it goes. But as I've always said before, you got a team with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, never count them out. Gotta take them serious. And we'll see what happens from there. Got D Ham in their culture. I know D Ham's bringing a different toughness, bringing a different flavor, a different confidence, you know, especially being a former player, a champion, you can speak from a different place to those guys. And so I hope D Ham do well. Obviously they got my brother Juan T over there, always cheering for Juan T as well. So, you know, we'll see what happens with the Lakers, but stop all the Russell Westbrook talk. That man is a Laker. They trying to make it work and it can work when you are as great of a players as those guys have, it can work. And then adding Patrick Beverley to the fold, you're just going to win more games. That's been proven. All you gotta do is watch the teams Patrick Beverley has played on. That is a proven fact. So that is it on the Lakers. That is it on this episode of the Draymond Green Show. Stay tuned this week as we have a guest interview coming this week, Thursday. It will be an exciting one. Should I drop the name? Should I drop the name? Maybe. Maybe. Not. Looking forward to having Patrick Beverley on the show. First team all defense. This will be a defensive conversation, but what it would also be, and most importantly, it's a basketball conversation because in order to play defense like that, like this, you gotta know what's going on and you gotta know it in a major way. So I'm looking forward to that conversation. I've heard a ton about Patrick Beverley and how smart he is and— Smart. Looking forward to picking his brain and just talking about his journey. Y'all make sure y'all tune in later this week. That's a wrap from this episode of the Draymond Green Show. We back, baby. Peace. Peace.