In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green interviews former NBA forward Shane Battier. Battier reflects on his time playing alongside Yao Ming, praising Yao’s work ethic, cultural impact, and brief periods of elite performance despite chronic health issues. He recounts the repeated playoff disappointments Battier’s teams faced, highlighting a painful Game 7 loss to Utah in Houston and the broader theme of talent being undermined by injuries. Battier then shifts focus to Tracy McGrady, arguing that McGrady is one of the best, if not the best, passers of their generation—a point he feels is often overlooked. He shares a personal anecdote about demanding passes from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, noting that they often threw the ball to his ankles, which frustrated him. The conversation is interspersed with a DraftKings Sportsbook promotional read. Overall, the interview blends personal storytelling, player evaluations, and commentary on how health and chemistry shaped Battier’s NBA experience.
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What's up everybody? Welcome to the Draymond Green Show YouTube channel. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. Make sure you like the post that you love, but you can get everything the Draymond Green Show right on our YouTube channel. So make sure you subscribe, check that out. Thank you. How was that playing with y'all and what impact did it have on you outside of the game of basketball? Because his brand was so big and reached so far.
Yeah, man. First of all, Yao was one of the best teammates of all time. And, you know, you talk about a guy who worked, who cared, who brought it every single day, never made excuses. I mean, he was a superstar. I mean, he's every teammate's dream, every coach's dream, you know? You saw how much stress he put on himself to carry, really, like, you know, 2 billion hopes and dreams of his countrymen in China on his shoulders. And he did it with amazing grace. And even though he could never really stay healthy enough to sustain a long career, I mean, man, he was, he was, he was so good as a teammate, you know, like Yao could never really train in the summer. So he was always kind of like out of shape when he showed up to camp. Mm-hmm. But by, by Christmas he finally got in shape and for like 2 months, man, like I'm telling you, like prime Shaq, like Dwight Howard, young Dwight, they, they couldn't do anything with him. I mean, he was like the best player on the planet. And then he got tired after about that 2-month run and it was fatigued and wasn't as good. But like for that 2 months, like no one could do anything with them.
And speaking of y'all, you also, obviously T-Mac was a part of those teams as well. We had T-Mac actually on the show last year and we spoke about winning and health and the different things. What was that like during those years of where you guys couldn't quite get over the hump of getting outta the first round and the beating that you were watching T-Mac take due to that. But all of you guys had to deal with that. What was that like?
Yeah, that was the hardest part. That was probably the worst part of my NBA career. Just not being able to have a real, you know, NBA championship run. We had the talent, you know, it just never seemed like we had the right health. And my first year in Houston, you know, I'll never forget losing game 7 at home. It's hard, you know, I'd never been to that situation where I thought we were gonna win and we're up, you know, 4 or 5 points with 2 minutes to go and lose the game to Utah. That was a really good Utah team with, with Booz and, and, and D-Will and, and O'Kerr. That, but they're, they're, but to lose game 7 at home, man, that, that really stung. And like, you always like assume that like, oh man, we're, we're, we're gonna get back and we just never did. We just, we never did. And one year T-Mac was hurt and we actually beat Portland and then lost in the second round. But You know, it was tough. T-Mac was unbelievable, man. I mean, he was so talented and again, he had some injuries, so he wasn't as explosive as he was earlier in his career. But I'll tell you what about T-Mac, he's the best passer ever played with. I mean, really? Yeah. Like people don't give him credit for his passing. He was an amazing scorer and he was explosive and all that. But man, he was like, he always put it, you know, on time, on target. You know, I used to yell at LeBron and D-Wade and I'm like, dude, like, you want assists? Hit me in the chest. And they'd be throwing it at my ankles or my— T-Mac never missed the pass. Never. And so, um, yeah, that's the one part of T-Mac that I always say, like, you have to give him his flowers. He, he's the best, one of the best passers of, of our generation.
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Wow, that's interesting. To play with LeBron James, I would've never guessed that. I would've never guessed that.
LeBron used to throw the ball to my ankles and, you know, take me off my shot. Like, LeBron, you want triple doubles? Hit me in the chest, I'll make the shot. I can't promise you if you hit me over here. So he got better. He got better. But D-Wade and LeBron, that's like, Those are— that's the thing that drove me crazy about them, as great as they were.
