In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, Draymond Green and his guests dissect France’s recent lineup changes ahead of the Olympic gold‑medal game against Team USA, focusing on the decision to bench defensive star Rudy Gobert. They review France’s recent use of players like Yabusele, Mathias (Lesort), and Wimby, noting how a more physical, faster style helped them defeat Germany. The panel debates whether France should re‑insert Gobert for the final, weighing his defensive accolades against his recent statistical decline and the need for complementary teammates. The conversation then shifts to the USA’s composition, contrasting the impact of elite stars (LeBron, Steph, KD) with role players, and Draymond shares personal anecdotes about being a role player in the NBA Finals. Throughout, Draymond emphasizes his commitment to “telling the truth,” critiques modern media narratives, and underscores the responsibility that comes with defensive awards. The segment concludes with a brief DraftKings Best Ball promotion.
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Welcome to the brand new Draymond Green Show YouTube channel. Hit subscribe so you don't miss out on any of our content. Although I didn't end up on this Olympic team, I remember vividly winning in 2021 and like saying, yo, the next step is to beat France in France. And somehow France, they pulled it, they beat Germany. Well, I know how. Yeah. I know how they pulled it out.
Yeah, let's talk about that one too.
Matchups was good for them. Yabusele, who was drafted by the Celtics, played like 2, 3 years in the league, went back. They had incorporated him into the, put him in the lineup. Took Rudy Gobert out the lineup.
Got it.
And last game he had 23, today he has 17.
Okay, well.
And then they got this guy, I think his name is like Mathias or Matthias, Mathias. And Lesort. And like they throwing the ball into him, like he getting to it.
He can get to it, yeah.
And they were just way more physical. And Wimby made some big plays, he some big shots, but they took Rudy Gobert outta the lineup.
Yep.
And they won.
Again.
So what are your thoughts on that? So now going into the gold medal game, think about this. Going into the gold medal game, this is Rudy Gobert, All-Star for Defensive Player of the Year, versus Joel Embiid. If you're France's coach, do you have to take into account that this dude gotta see those guys and he's familiar with those guys? Do you play him more or do you roll with what's been working?
Well, outta respect, Give him a chance. But if he ain't cutting it, you gotta roll with what you got. You know what I mean? Like, it's a gold medal game. You know what I'm like, it's the gold medal game. We've been winning. How many times the coach say, we've been winning this way, why change it?
Absolutely.
Rudy Gobert gotta figure out like and humble his self and say, yo, if I want a gold medal, I may have to sit this one out. Or if I want a gold medal, "when I do play, I gotta do something." Maybe better for Rudy Gobert against centers he play against all the time. And then B, AD, you know, Bam, he got a chance. You know what I'm saying? I think just to make up on a team, he is just like, there's not a right 4 other players that compliment him being out there. And sometimes that's just, That's just the nature of the game. Like you can be a great defensive player, you can be a great offensive player, but if you don't complement the other 4 players or they don't complement you, then it ain't no flow.
Yeah.
And I think that's why, you know, you see the results. They can throw the ball inside. You can't throw the ball inside with Rudy Gobert. Rudy Gobert don't block, 2 shots, 3 shots, 4 shots. Like he gotta go block 4 or 5 shots to have an impact.
Yeah.
He gotta go get 12, 15 rebounds to have an impact. You know what I'm saying? And get like, you know, at his position for what they need to win. 'Cause a lot of what he's called to do is Wemby could do it, but he play on the perimeter. So you gotta be physical. You gotta be something that is, reliable.
Yeah.
And so I'd rather rely on homeboy to go get me 17, 15, at least, you know what I mean? Like it's something I can go to. I mean, I feel sorry for Rudy Gobert. You know what I mean? Like everybody pick on him and shit.
He'll be picking on— I don't pick on anyone. You don't, you don't. I just tell the truth.
No, you tell the truth.
I tell the truth. You don't pick on Rudy. We live in this day and age where, and I've been speaking about it forever, the new media, Like where these people don't necessarily tell the truth in large part because it don't fit their narrative.
For sure.
But also because they just don't know how to see it.
Yeah.
And so for me, I just tell the truth and listen, when you are a max level player. Facts is facts. Defensive player of the year over and over and over again. That comes with a certain responsibility. And if you don't uphold that responsibility, ain't nobody watching this show if I'm like, well, you know, wasn't Rudy Gobert's fault. Like, no, if it was your fault, it was your fault.
Yeah, if you got all these accolades, you gotta show up.
Absolutely.
Like Dikembe Mutombo, he always showed up. He always blocked shots. He'll always foul you. You know what I mean? Like it wasn't never not a time where it was like he wasn't that. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
My problem with Gobert is I don't really know, like, is he really, is he, he's not intimidating at the rim. So I don't know how you can be defensive player of the year. If you not, like if people are not intimidated to go to the rim. So that's just, you know, I just think that he has a lot of accolades. I think, you know, I think he's a good player, but you gotta find the right 4 people to make him effective. And the way that France is made up and going into this USA game, like he gotta find a way.
Mm-hmm.
And he gotta humble himself sometimes. Like, you know what I'm saying? This shit don't, The glove don't fit, man.
Nah, I agree. And they've been playing much better basketball since they took, the proof is in the pudding.
Yeah. But what about USA though? Like what about this damn game?
You know what I mean? So I was just about to ask you. Let's break down the game, bro. So I was just about to ask you. So second half, the team was clearly better when we went talent. Like in Team USA, we got our role players. I've been a role player on Team USA, like, and Derek White's in that category, Drew's in that category. But then sometimes, but then we also, what makes us so much better than all these other teams is that we got that and we got role players that are the greatest role players in the world. World.
Yep.
But then we got the greatest stars in the world. And so, Yeah. I felt like earlier in that game, maybe like I started texting Bob like, yo, we need to get like KD in with Steph and Bron. Because earlier in that game you could tell like we weren't about to out-role player them.
Yeah.
And it's no knock to our role players, but that's what they do.
That's what they do. That's how they get you.
That's what they do.
That's how you get caught up.
When are we going to go with the dogs?
Yeah.
And I can speak from a role player Perspective, like, I always try to make it to where no matter what, I need to be in the game. Like, I gotta be in the game because I'm gonna do something, make something. But like, the reality is, in game 4 of the NBA Finals, I had to come out. It's the first time it happened to me in my career where it was like, damn, it's winning time. And it was better for me not to be in the game. That's the first time it happened to me in my career. Wow., but it happened to me. And I said all of that to say, as a role player, sometimes it just happened to you. And you could see it, like it was there. Like, yo, it's time. Like, go to those guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And when we finally got there, we did. As a star player, a guy who was going to get 30, 25 a night, if you're the star on that team, and you know you got other guys. At what point, if you're Bron, if you're Steph, you going to Steve like, "Yo, no, we need K, we need Book, like we need Joe, like we need these stars right now to star power us to that thing." What's that balance?
I mean, for a coach, you gotta think like it's all energy, right? 'Cause like, if you start, you can start with your top dogs, Imma rely on him, he gonna rely on him. It's almost like we too unselfish.
Mm-hmm.
I think when the going get tough, ain't no fucking superstars, right? So you like Steph, LeBron, you know, KD, they not, they know that they have to superstar at a high, like the reason why they got a superstar at the high level and the reason why you are a superstar is because you're the most incredible role player and the most undefined role player at your position. You know what I mean? And so when you playing against Germany, you gotta think those dudes are role players in the NBA. They are superstars.
For their country.
Absolutely. So we coming out thinking like, "Oh man, that's Bogdanović, you know, we know what he do." But like, we ain't really seen him with all the freedom in the world and all the confidence. You know what I mean? And he's going and he's playing a lot harder than he would play in the NBA because he's playing defense, you know, he boxing out all the little things. And so for us, we gotta match that with incredible talent.
Yeah.
Because if, you know, Jrue Holiday, white, they used to like being energy gods, right? But if the energy don't meet where we think these dudes are role players, but they superstars, you know, they superstars in they mind.
Absolutely. Right, we still role players.
You know what I mean? Or like all-stars in our role in this confine of the team. 'Cause you know what I mean? It's like, they ain't got no LeBron. So now you gotta figure out, oh shit, we down. Like when you see them dudes, at the end of the game celebrating and hugging each other, it's 'cause they made that sacrifice. It wasn't casual. Like, it ain't casual no more, dog. Like, what we gonna do? You know? And when you got 5 of your most talented players out there on the floor, once that, you know it is, once that momentum, 'cause you the momentum, you know how to change the energy and like catch 'em.
Mm-hmm.
Once that momentum changed, all 5 of those dudes are playing selfish, unselfish, and they're not thinking about, oh, I'm relying on LeBron. Or LeBron like, I'm relying on Steph. It's like, nope, here I go. I'm not open. Boom, there go. That's the play. They playing the play. You know what I mean? Yeah. They play, oh, that's Steph. That's good.
Yeah.
Like, but before it's like, oh, that's Steph. That's good. Let me run back. It's like, nah, they go a shot. If this shit come off, I gotta get the rebound. You know, it's like that sense of urgency when you got 5 superstars They all gonna be the best role player when they click it. And I think that's how they caught him.
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