Steph Curry BELONGS in NBA GOAT convo, Warriors 9-1 with Jimmy Butler | Draymond Green & Baron Davis

There's no one in the history of the NBA that has been schemed against and guarded the way Steph Curry is guarded. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show with my brother BD.

What's happening?

What's happening?

What's up, big dog?

Just chilling, bro. You know, just doing it. Before we get into the show, y'all remember to subscribe to the Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis so you don't miss any episodes.

Today we got a lot to cover, so let's get right into it. But don't forget to follow us on all social media. That's @DraymondShow. Dub Nation, what's happening? Birthday boy with the win. My dog.

Damn near triple-double. Okay, you know what I mean? First half.

The garden, you know what I'm saying? Come on, yo, you in the garden. Steph, another legendary performance. He 13-1 in the Garden, by the way, if you count the games with Davidson. Man, just how you feeling? Talk about, I love what I'm seeing. I love this triple-double, 'cause remember I was like, dude, we gotta start stacking these double-doubles for Defensive Player of the Year. So come on, man, how we doing? What we talking about?

Feeling amazing, bro. Had the double-double with Charlotte. Definitely should have had one last night, probably a triple-double, but I was, That first half of them back-to-backs, man, them legs being noodley.

Woo!

Noodley first half of them back-to-backs, man. So I'm feeling good, man. I feel like I've been way more aggressive as of late, which I feel very comfortable with. You know, having Jimmy has really unlocked more of the aggressiveness for me because everything he's talking to me about is, "Yo, we need somebody getting to the rim. Get downhill. Go, go, go." Mm-hmm. So, and then obviously also the attention he draws, you know?

Yeah.

It's opened up the floor and created different opportunities. So, you know, I feel like I'm playing well though. But man, that performance in the Garden last night.

That was crazy.

Steph put on the show. Steph. Jimmy took over the game.

Yeah. You managed the game well.

I felt like I played pretty good, you know?

You played really good.

I feel like it's coming together for us, bro. Like, that was a big game for us. And obviously they ain't had Cat, but to show, it's always fun playing in the Garden, man. And I didn't realize the success we've had. Like, I remember frequently winning there, but I didn't realize—

Y'all dominate there.

Dominating there. That's impressive. You know, then Steve telling Steph to come on.

Oh yeah, then Steve telling him, come on, man, hit the night-night, Sally. Come on, man, what's all that about? Yeah, yeah, I'm really— yeah, I'm feeling it though. I like it, man. Um, even after the game, Shaq was saying, I demand fans to start putting Steph in the GOAT conversation. You've been talking about this. I agree. I believe that he's He was the next evolution of a game changer and the evolution of the game. He should be in that conversation.

He 100% is in that conversation and he 1000% belongs in that conversation. When you talk about what he's done, what he does on the basketball court, there's no one in the history of the NBA, and with all due respect to LeBron James, With all due respect to Michael Jordan, with all due respect to my favorite player of all times, the great Shaquille O'Neal, there's no one in the history of the NBA that has been schemed against and guarded the way Steph Curry is guarded. I mean, you like, teams throw their whole defense at him. I've played in the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers and got wide open layups, dunks in transition. Because he's running on the wing and they'd rather go run and take the 3 away from him on the wing and give me a dunk.

Maybe.

Kevin Durant, one of the greatest scorers we've ever seen, got wide open dunk straight down the lane because Steph Curry's on one wing, Klay Thompson on the other wing, and they just run. But Steph Curry, who I'm speaking about right now, The defense, the defenses that he's faced still to this day, he's in year 16 and teams still throw 3 and 4 defenders at him on the given possession. You know, when you talk about how much he gets blitzed, like everything is designed to try to take this guy away because you know, against some teams you say, yo, let's let this guy do this and let's take everything else away. The game plan is never to let Steph just get his because you know how demoralizing it is. And then obviously impact on the game. The way the game of basketball is played, not in NBA, I said the game of basketball is played worldwide. It's because of Steph Curry.

For sure.

You tell me the game of basketball, the is modeled After how you played the game and what you were so special at that everybody thought that, yo, that's what we need to do. And you telling me that guy don't go in the GOAT conversation? Also tell me that Steve Jobs ain't one of the greatest CEOs that's ever walked this planet Earth either. Then tell me that too then.

I always say GOATs travel in herds. So, you know, You can look at multiple different players and consider them, you know, a part of the greatest of all time, the greatest to ever do it. Like, people get into the debate about individual people, but I look at like the canvas, right? The NBA is the Louvre. You know, Michael Jordan may be the Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. Steph Curry comes along and becomes, the Mona Lisa, right? Or, you know, it's so— it is, you know, he, he, he definitely deserves, you know, his name in that conversation. And I think, you know, when you're talking about GOAT and GOAT conversation, once again, you gotta talk about— It's multiple people because it's multiple different positions, multiple eras. It's most like every 5 years the league changed. Like we was talking about the face of the league the other day, right? And, you know, the face of the league is, is consumed by he who wins, right? Or he who has the illest style. I think that Steph has transcended a whole new era. Like, if you think about, you know, just the NBA and the NBA from an image perspective, the suburban kid has a chance to be great. You know, it never was there, you know, a time where, you know, the story— Yeah. Reflect it. The story of struggle was always prevalent to someone's success in the NBA, and never really was there like a middle-class, you know, well, really upper-class kid, right?

Yes.

Who broke through the barriers. Not only that, not only an upper-class kid, but the son of an NBA player breaking through that threshold. So, I mean, you can say there was once, you know, Players before, which there were, who made it to the league, but not with this threshold, this impact. And so it created a whole new surge of NBA players, former NBA players, great college players, great street ball players. Now their kids is looking at, "Oh, look at this kid. He look like a dude that's at the jungle gym." I grew up at the jungle gym. He look like somebody that's in the jungle gym. Yeah. In the art class, right? And there he is, one of the best players in the NBA. And so that, you know, is more recognizable, more relatable. And now, you know, every kid from every suburbs, from every hood is changing their style of game and changing even their persona, right? To reflect more Steph Curry. And I think that's why you got a lot of great kids in this league, a lot of good, good people, right? And you know, you have that, you have that now, broader family support. And you know, people don't look at all the elements. So when it comes to, you know, being a game changer, what that does.

Due to Steph Curry's success, and you just hit on it, I'm gonna take it a step further. Due to his success, and Klay, due to the level of success that Steph has had being a former or being the son of a former NBA, retired NBA player in Draymond Green. It's not that there weren't guys before that were the son of NBA players, but you haven't seen them with this frequency. The amount of NBA players— Crazy. Stars that's in the NBA now.

Crazy.

And with this frequency, and due to Steph's greatness, the NBA and basketball in general has become a rich kid sport. Basketball was, for myself, for a lot of other guys—

We had a chance.

It was our way out.

Yeah, we had a chance.

As a poor kid, there's a hoop at the park up the street and you just need a basketball and we can go play. You know, we can play outside. And so as a poor kid, it was a means and a way out. For a lot of us, LeBron James, the poor kid, basketball was a way out. And the Steph Currys were rare. Now it's more likely that Gilbert Arenas' son is going to make it to the NBA. Trevor Ariza's son is going to make it to the NBA. And they are better suited now to make it to the NBA than the kid from the neighborhood. It's flipped.

Big time, bro. Big time.

Because of the level of skill that Steph Curry possesses, skill training has become so big. So training kids now, and the training that these kids get now—

It's expensive.

That we can guide them through, and we know trainers, we know, like Ronnie worked out with Chris Johnson when he was in high school. You know what I'm like, we know the trainers.

Yeah.

Trap Son is probably gonna go to the NBA because it's set up that way now.

It is.

Where there's so much training and the kid in the neighborhood now, he can't get that level of training.

You get to the train station, but you two days late. Everybody done took they trains and they routes. So the kid in the neighborhood, our route used to be play at the park, play at the school or whatnot, then get discovered at the YMCA or the park league. Then somebody will say, "Yo, you wanna play on the All-Star team?" You play on the All-Star team. It was like you worked your way up and you had to really like battle and fight to earn your seat on the AAU squad. Now those kids in the hood, they don't even have, like the kids is so rich that you can't even afford to access the tournaments to show like, man, I gotta— it used to be a team we used to play against called the Warriors. If I didn't play on my AAU team, I had to play for them. They was outta Watts and they would raise money and they would be in the same tournaments. And James Lee wind up becoming, you know, going to San Francisco. But like, it was dudes I grew up from my neighborhood like, oh, like damn, they got a squad too. And they can show up. Now you can't. 'Cause if you ain't Nike, if you ain't Adidas, if you ain't Puma, like where do you go to get seen? And it's really like an access game now. So, you know, and I hate this, basketball is becoming a one-trick pony as far as stories, the type of talent you looking for, the type of player you looking for. And like everybody, it's like becoming a factory— and it's not an art collective.

Mm-hmm.

Right? Like, we not appreciate— like, nobody's— everybody's the same. So, you know, and then that goes back to Steph Curry. Like, you know, look at that effect. Like, every kid and every point guard, even every big man now is shooting threes. You know, there's always a gift and a curse, but I think the game being too expensive disallows access to, you know, the next Draymond, right? Yep, that's a fact. 'Cause they ain't gonna go looking for no Draymond.

That's a fact.

Right? And so we gotta, you know, we gotta keep that same juxtaposition or that energy because the league is not about just rich kids playing the sport, you know?

That's a fact. Every rich kid could be skilled, you know, and do all the skill training,— but every rich kid ain't gonna have the dog that Steph Curry got.

For sure. No, Steph Curry different. He programmed.

Absolutely.

Right? We had a conversation about this. Um, what's the difference between, like, if somebody's a dog and somebody got skill, you can't dog a person who's highly skilled. And the person who's highly skilled probably has way more levels to be a beast and a monster than just you being a dog.

And having that dog in you, if you got a guy that's highly skilled and he ain't got no dog, your mind is automatically gonna be like, "I'mma just bully him." Yep. Right? Like, "I'mma bully him and I'm not even gonna allow you to access that skill. 'Cause I'mma just rough you up. I'mma get, like, you gonna back down. Then once I get you to back down," Now you don't even really want the ball because you don't wanna deal with that. It always reverts back to that. And winning always reverts back to that.

Mm-hmm.

Because if you don't have the doll, everything else you're trying to accomplish, it gets thrown off track. But I would say, you know, for the kids, you know, I just said it's a rich kid sport. For the kids that are like myself and like you, that's still coming from the neighborhood, you may not have the access to, the type of training that, say, my son would have access to, or your son would have access to. But being a musician, being an artist, like BD just said, being an artist and figuring out the artistry of the game.

Yep.

If you can just do that, and guess what? They still make basketball courts, they still make basketballs. If you get your handle right, your game tight, Work on that. Yeah, you may not be as strong when you get to the level you trying to go to. Not being strong enough don't mean you can't be tough enough, right?

Right.

So you may not be as strong, you may not test off the charts like somebody else will because of the training they had. That's fine.

Right.

Master the game.

That's it.

Master the game. For the kid that don't have the access to all the stuff, if you just master the game,. And all that simply requires is going to the gym, going outside and dribbling the basketball. Those still, those things that those who do that, that'll never go away. Any rim you can find outside, don't matter. If you put that work in as that young kid that ain't got nothing, there's still a path. Oh man.

If you and I were growing up in today's era, right? The path would be a little easier because you have help along the way. So like, we not discouraging, we saying like, you will, they will find, talent will be found once you put the work in, right? And the way the landscape is for basketball, right? With NIL, right? It give people like us growing up an opportunity to start taking care of our family even at an earlier age. So take care of that business. Take care of that. And the knowledge too. Know people. Know, you know, know players. Know their style. Know what they play like. Know what they shoot like. How they run. All this is the beauty and the magic. Like, I think about you a lot. And what makes you a great defender is you know how people move.

Yeah.

So you know when to get in front of them, you know how to defend them, you know when you need to get leverage, you know when you need to stand up, you know when he ain't gonna do nothing, right? Rudy, go bear. You know when to just jump. And like, when you study people and you study their movements, that's how you really become a student of the game. I saw that picture of Pat with the belt courtside during the Knicks-Warriors game. You tweeted that you put a camera on Pat courtside. What was he doing?

I'm telling you, man, I don't know, maybe this need to be an idea for the new media. Somebody need to put, sit Patrick Beverly courtside and put a camera. I got a lot of respect for Pat. Pat got it out the mud. And I also, I have even more respect for Pat because Pat was a scorer.

Yeah.

Like average 40. I made it to the NBA because I could score. Like I didn't make NBA because I played defense.

No way.

I made it to the NBA because I could score. I made, I made all defense team at Michigan State my senior year. And my assistant coach who I'm still tight with to this day, Coach DJ Dwayne Stevens, he laughed in my face and said, man, they put you on that all defense team because your name Draymond Green.

Yeah, 'cause you nice in offense. Yeah.

And I was like, "Chill out, D." I was like, "I'm a great help side defender." I didn't even argue with him. I'm like, "D, I'm a great help side defender." Yeah. He like, "Yeah, overhelping." I used to overhelp crazy all the time. Like, there was no argument to even push back. I made it to the NBA because I could score, I could pass, and I could rebound. In order for me to play in the NBA, I had to figure out a role because they already had guys. I was a second round pick. They already had guys that was gonna score. So that was never gonna be a role for me. Right. So I had to figure out a role. Once you figure out a role, you ain't about to go rap and then start singing. Like, "No, you rap now. Like, go rap." And that's just kind of what it is. I had a lot of respect for Pat. He got it out the mud. And so I'm getting stops and I'm talking to Pat like, "Pat, I'm on 'All That.' Like, y'all, Draymond, you saw that L?" And I hear Pat like, "Yo, y'all need to do this, Dre." Like, "Do this, do that." And I'm like, "Man, that's a good idea." Then I hear him, we in the zone, and he tell Landry Shamet where to go for the shot.

He over there coaching both teams.

Landry Shamet goes to where he tell him to go, hit the 3-pack. "I told you, go right." Like, then the fan tell me, "Draymond, you are stupid. You're just stupid." And I caught his face. Oh, it's you. And I'm about to say, start going back at the fan. Pat.

And Pat fired off.

Draymond Green, I got him. I got the belt in my hand. I turned around and looked, this man really has a belt in his hand.

Hilarious.

I got the belt in my hand, Draymond Green, put the belt down. Like from that, like all these moments he had during the game, bro.

It was like epic.

If you had a camera on him, and put that in a 9-minute— it was pure comedy.

That's hilarious.

But it's coaching though too. So for the average fan, like you're learning when you're listening and watching it, man, it was absolutely incredible. It was a pleasant surprise. Obviously didn't expect to see Pat Bev sitting courtside at a game with us with the Knicks. Pleasant surprise.

That bam is classic, bro.

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All right, continue with the crazy Steph Curry performances. On February 27th versus the Magic, he went off of 56, 12 threes, and he's done that on 3 different occasions on February 27th. What, which one to you— is the best February 27th performance? The Orlando Magic one or the other two before?

Ugh.

2016, he did, he had 46. He was 12 for 16 from the 3 on 2/27, uh, '16. On 2/27/13, he had 54, 11 for 13 threes. Talk to me.

That was at the Garden. We lost that game, I think. I'm almost certain. That's the one game.

On the 13th. Yeah, on the 13th, right?

2013. That's actually the one game where you said he 13-1 in the Garden. That's actually the one game we lost. So I'm gonna pick against that one. He also shimmy past me during that game. I'm standing there like this. And when he did this, and when that was also in that game. So I'm gonna throw that game out. He'll be right past me. So I'm gonna throw that one out. I gotta say my favorite one was OKC. There was so much that happened during that game. That game is also the game me and Steve Kerr got into it.

Mm-hmm.

And they reported it. Lisa Salters reported from like eavesdropping in our door in our locker room. Every word we said behind closed doors. She reported every word we said, which was insane. To Lisa's credit, she apologized. I hold no ill will towards Lisa. I actually love her. But that was crazy. All of that happened in that game. That's also the game Steph hit the bomb, the deep 3 right across half. So I gotta go with that game. And then—

That was crazy.

You also gotta know the history. That's 2016. We had just won a championship. Fast forward, this is also the year that we end up having to come back 3-1 against them. So—

Yep.

Have to understand where the NBA was and the dynamic. Like Steph versus Russ right now, these dudes have been at such a high level for such a long time. But at this time, you thought like this was peak powers. You didn't know that they end up— that Russ ends up breaking the triple-double record. Like, 'cause he—

Right.

At the time, he wasn't getting the triple-doubles that frequently. It's 2016. So you have to understand, like, the dynamic in the NBA at this time. And then for him to have that performance, hit that bomb with all of that going on in the next—

That was crazy.

I gotta take— February 27th, 2016. Gotta take that one. But I'll tell you what, February 27th in America is— will be known moving forward as Steph Curry Day.

Done. Sign it up. Sign the petition now. All right, dude. One of the wildest calls I saw this week was the flagrant foul they called on you versus the Hornets, which I deem as because you're Draymond Green, That's the type of call you're gonna get. What did you say to the ref after that upgrade was made?

I don't even— I said so much to the refs when they even was gonna go review it, bro. I wasn't even looking at dude, and the referee only called the foul because he saw dude on the floor flopping like, ah. I wasn't even looking at him. I literally just put my hand out to hit his chest to stop his Progress moving forward, stop moving. And so I could find the ball and go get the rebound.

But you know, you got hands like Shona.

He ran straight into the net. Don't blame me. I thought it was crazy for them to go see the play, see that I'm not even looking at this dude. And still upgraded to a flagrant foul.

That was crazy.

To me, because I have been on the wrong end of a lot of elbows to the head, and the referee tells, "Oh, but it wasn't intentional." But I still got elbowed in my head. Yeah, but it wasn't intentional. So then I'm not looking at this dude, but y'all tell me when it's me on the wrong side of it that it wasn't intentional, they ain't mean to do it. I got tripped.— It was either in Philly or Atlanta. It was the beginning of the trip. I was rolling down the paint, bro. I got tripped. I fell so hard. I fell, I fell so hard. I was so mad because as I'm falling over, I'm looking at the referee eye to eye. Watch me just get tripped and fall over. I'm literally looking him eye to eye. Watching me get tripped and I felt so hard. I was so mad. I'm like, yo, you not gonna call it? You just watch me get tripped. Now you watch me get tripped. And he said to me, he was like—

I was surprised.

He didn't, no, he didn't try to trip you. I watched him trip you. I said, but I don't always try to foul.

Yeah.

But if I foul, I foul.

It don't matter what I try. Yeah, it don't matter. Hey, if you clumsy, you clumsy. You trip somebody, you trip somebody.

He tripped, like he tripped. I don't care if he tried to trip me or not. He tripped me. Oh yeah, Draymond Green tried to elbow you in the— Yeah, but he elbowed me in the head. I don't care what he tried to do. He elbowed me in the head. So if that's a flag on one and I didn't try to, why are all these times I get elbowed in the head, the refs say, oh, it wasn't intentional, he ain't try to. I don't understand that. I understand, I know why, right?

So I'm— We gonna let the ref slide on this one.

I ain't even—

Warriors are 9-1 with Jimmy Butler in the lineup. To me, the most impressive win amongst those are this last victory against the Knicks. Just saying that I was very impressed with that. Everybody had a solid game. And Steph had a, and Steph was Stephing. What do you think is the most impressive win for you guys so far?

I would say last night and I would say the Houston one right before break. Draymond Green, both of 'em were on the back end of a back-to-back.

Oh man, you win that second game, that's, that's relief.

Absolutely. And, and the NBA, we call most of those scheduled losses. You know, like back-to-back tough, you getting in late as hell. Good team, like those are tough. And you know, we're coming in on a back-to-back. All-Star break starts after the game. So you could mentally check out, right? Like, man, let me get through this game and get to All-Star. Like that could be your mindset.

Yeah.

We had just lost one and tough one the night before in Dallas.

Yeah.

Kyrie went off. Also sending my love and well wishes to Kyrie.

To Kyrie, man. Damn.

Good recovery. But Kai had just went off coming in this young Houston team that if you remember the last time they beat us was that season.

But this season, yeah.

Little sketch, little sketch.

On a blooper, on a blooper. Yeah, a couple mistakes.

So they feeling good and they young, you know what I'm saying? Like caught us on the back to back and we go in and get that game to go into the break. So I say that one and I say this New York Knicks one was the two most impressive to me so far. You just get a boost of confidence and like a boost to the morale.

Yeah.

To go take that second one on the second night of a back-to-back. So, you know, it also still allows us to put ourselves in a position to have a great trip. Obviously we would've loved to be 5-0 on the trip. We let that Philly one get away.

Yeah, that was a tough one.

4-1 East Coast trip, I don't think anybody complained about.

No complaints here, my brother. But you'd also got the Pistons coming in town. You know, the Pistons, one of my teams, one of my hot teams to watch for this year in the league. They're in 6th place and it looks like they'll have a first round matchup with the Knicks. You played against the Knicks. You know it's Knicks take with me all day. I love the Knicks. I did pick Detroit as my hot team coming out the East. Do you think the Knicks or the Pistons, who do you think will win in a, in a, in a playoff series if they started today?

The Pistons ain't never done it. I don't think New York's playoff noise, I think they got some things to figure out. But in saying that, I don't know that the Pistons are, are, like you, you need some experience in those playoffs.

War ready. Yeah.

I just don't know that they'll have enough experience. Now adding Dennis Schroder is gonna make difference in a, a big difference for them in the playoffs because he does experience. Everybody give Tobias Harris a lot of crap. Tobias has playoff experience. And so having those couple guys that does have playoff experience, I think could help them. I think it'll be a very tall task for them to beat the Knicks though, if I'm honest. But I'll roll with Detroit. Why? Like—

Yeah, you gonna roll with Detroit for sure. It's something about it being your first playoffs that you like, "Oh man, I'm going for broke." Like that you so prepared as a young dude, you so nervous that your energy is there, your attention to detail, like, Like you don't even know to be nervous.

You don't know what this—

Yeah.

It's almost like a, for lack of a better term, it's like a level of dumbness that you have.

Mm-hmm.

A level of ignorance that you have.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That you don't even know what to expect. And so a guy who's been through it could get more nervous because they know what to expect.

Totally.

Where they're out there damn near dumbfounded because it's like, we ain't never been here. What we got to lose? Oh, well.

Right.

And that, that, that definitely could work. Work. I agree with you. That can work for the, to the Pistons' advantage. And then I'll tell you another thing. Isaiah Stewart gonna, gonna, he gonna bully Cat. Like he gonna make it his—

He gonna try to.

He gonna, he would make it his mission for a playoff series where you gotta see this dude possibly 7 games in a row. He would make it his mission to bully KAT. Will he be successful in doing it? I mean, that's what Isaiah Stewart does.

That's where somebody who's highly skilled, like, man, I ain't even worried about that bullshit. Like, you can be a dog all you want, you still can't stop it. It could work to KAT's advantage too.

It could, 100%. You could use it against him. You know what I'm saying? So you have to see how those matchups play out. But I think those would be key things to watch. In, in this matchup. And then who's gonna be better outta K and—

And Jalen Brunson. Yep.

Jalen Brunson has the experience, but I'm gonna tell you what K has that Jalen Brunson don't have. His size.

Yeah.

Size at 6'7". He get into them playoffs and, and K getting to where he want to go and you ain't speeding him up. That can make a big difference in a playoff series because—

Huge.

You're dialed in on exploiting these 1 or 2 or 3 things in the game. And K, K different, man.

So he don't care that he hasn't been there before. He knows like, this is my moment. Like we can get them.

Move around the league a little bit before we get outta here. Bron passed 50,000 points.

Wow.

Regular season and playoffs combined. It's absolutely insane for a guy. It's insane for anybody. It's obviously never been done, but it's absolutely insane for a guy that is not considered a scorer.

A scorer, right.

It's pretty crazy, but just goes to show you how I actually think throughout the course of Bron's career, he could have scored way more points than he actually has.

Absolutely.

I think that he just always has such a level of unselfishness and a will and want to win that the points never really even mattered to him, which is possibly why people don't, they don't matter to people 'cause they never really mattered to him. He was just gonna score enough points to make sure they win the game, but never to try to break some scoring records or something like that. And that's what I think makes it even all the more impressive. Like how great you actually have, like gotta be—

Mechanical.

To not focus on scoring, to not be labeled as a scorer, but have 50,000 points is insane. So number one, Bron, congrats, my brother.

Congrats.

Well done, man. Just continuing to watch this brother's greatness. And it's like, it's crazy because I think he keep getting better at basketball.

Yeah.

Just don't really make sense to me, like how bruh 40 years old still getting better at basketball.

But you know, he— At a high, high level.

At a very high level.

At a high clip, bro.

He always credited his sustained performance throughout his career to a love for the process. And one thing I will ask you, you know, we talked about the GOAT debate with Steph earlier. Do you think Luka's arrival has infused some energy in Bron and like, like, pushed his game to another level. And not that he needed Luka to push him to another level, but just what kind of— what's your thoughts on that?

One, we're starting to see LeBron fall into number— a comfortable number 2. Like, we've only seen LeBron be number 1. There is no 1A, there is no 1B. —there was never that. LeBron has always been numero uno. To see LeBron as the number one guy be the number two guy is very scary because it puts him back into his number one position when he was young, right? And when you talk about his scoring, I say he's a mechanical scorer, right? He scores when necessary. Oh, you're about to go up 10? No, I'm taking that shot. Like, he, he is a scientist when it when it comes to how he plays the game. And then also LeBron, he could have came into the league and said, I wanna be a scorer and had a total different game and it's, and with the same outcome.

Yep.

Right? Just because who he is. But I think Luka, right? To answer your question, Luka is like, oh man, I got another 5. What I'm loving about the league right now, okay, the Warriors got 3 years, 4, these next 5 years, the Warriors. Okay, see, y'all got the next 5 years to do something. Boston, you just came off of one, you got the next 5 years to do something, right? But then you got all these veteran teams, Denver, you getting older, you about to turn the corner, Clippers, What are you gonna do? Lakers, you got Luka, Minnesota, you got like Phoenix and what's gonna happen with, you know, with, with KD and what they got with Phoenix. So all these bet teams that made these trades and got better, like they're in a now win situation.

Yeah.

So I think that ups LeBron's ante. Like, hold on, let me show Luka, hey bro, you just do what you do, I got the rest.

Mm-hmm.

And that's, and, and, and it's been different than a Kyrie, than a D-Wade, than a Chris Bosh, right? Because Luka can do what LeBron does.

Yep. This is the first time in LeBron's career where he's been able to run and play off the ball and people make plays for him.

Mm-hmm.

Think he's ever really played with anyone that could like really make plays for him.

Right.

And so he's running and getting layups in transition. He's getting backdoor cuts, like random cuts because it's someone that can create for him.

Totally.

I think that has made him take a step back and be like, whoa, like this is actually a lot easier. He's enjoying doing it, it looks like. And so I think it, it definitely can infuse some, some, some more years in, into his career because he just got, Steph looks the same way with Jimmy coming, right? Like—

Yeah, yeah.

Just look like they found new life.

It's a relief. Yeah, bro, yeah.

We had KD on last week and you know, he just talked about how the Suns have to play hard. He didn't get into it with Budenholzer, which I make nothing of, but he came out and responded and played hard. And on both sides of the ball. And when he made that decision, you can see the game start to change. And I had tweeted about K because I watched him do it defensively, offensively. I watched him talking to guys, I watched him pick up guys, I watched him take it on everything on his own shoulders and willed them to that win.

Yeah.

Because if they lose that game, It's over. I tweeted, I said it was one of the more impressive performances I've seen from K. And I've seen K have 54, 52, whatever, all these. But it ain't about the points, it's about his demeanor. It's about how he went about bringing that team back. And it was glaringly noticeable to me. You know, he had spoke about how they needed to play hard and different things. They have a 23-point comeback last night versus the Clippers. And I think that was a prime example of the way that they're going to need to play.

Yep.

If they could spark this run and you know, and can, can this game ultimately be a spark for them? Which you hope so if you're them, right? Like you hope that, all right man, we just had this one, now let's build on it. They got an uphill battle to fight for sure.

Yeah, they do. And this was the first time I really seen him, angry. You know, usually KD, when he play, he upset, he be talking shit, you know, he going at different people. This comeback was— he was angry. He was like— he lost himself in the game. And I think that's what Phoenix gotta do. They gotta stop coming to the game with a chip on their shoulder thinking like they are the target because they got KD, they got Devin Booker, they got scores, they need to start being angry about, hey, we— this may not happen. And so they have to have more desperate measures. And I seen, I seen an angry KD when he did that to Bud. It was like, man, all right, I'm about to show you, bro. Like, get off me. I need to stay in the mode that I'm in. And it was, to me, it was refreshing to see that.

Yeah, I, I don't think it— I don't think it was anything. Coaches and players had their moments all the time. I think if If you had a camera on a bench in a huddle at every moment, you'd see these more often than not. That's just what happens. I think people try to make a big deal outta everything because everybody needs storylines.

Yeah.

KD loves the process of being coached.

Mm-hmm.

Working on his game.

Mm-hmm.

All the pureness of basketball is what KD actually loves. One thing I can assure you, KD ain't a coach arguer. Like he ain't gonna, he'll every now and then he gonna like stand his ground. You know what I'm saying? Like of course, but he not just gonna get into it with the coach. He not a player that's like think he's bigger than being coached. Nah. None of that. You know what I'm saying? So what I know for a fact, had they little moment and they moving on. If KD could, Dude played this game in the NBA and what he's doing and only deal with the pureness of the game he played for another 10 years.

No, for sure. And sometimes you just don't wanna be touched.

Yeah.

Especially somebody talking to you, don't touch me, right? But like talking to me and touching me at the same time, like I don't feel like being touched right now, right? And when you in the heat of the moment, it's just that. It is nothing more but just, that angst, that anxiety, that frustration.

Before we get outta here, man, we mentioned Kyrie earlier tearing ACL, obviously another blow to the Mavs and their fan base who's kind of been going through it over the last month or so.

Damn.

Like, I don't have many words because Ky is just one of them dudes, man.

He's my guy.

He loved playing basketball.

He loved hoopin'.

I'm happy he is where he is in his life. You know, he got his wife and his kids, you know what I'm saying? But man, like, Kai had to have figured it out. You know what I'm saying? His game, his balance, who he is. And to go through this, hate to see it. Hate to see it. Yeah. Send my love, well wishes, speedy recovery. You just hate to see that happen. But I will ask you, what was your thoughts on him staying out there and shooting those free throws?

That's just love. That's just will. You know, I love Kyrie's game. One of my favorites all time. And to see his maturity this year, you know, his leadership, you know, with that team even through the trade and all that. And you know, I just hate seeing people get injured, period, Draymond, you know, 'cause my career ended on an injury. But I do believe and I know he got, you know, the family support and he got the will to come back and he got the game, you know, to come back after a torn ACL and be even better or just as effective playing at a high level because of who he is and just the skills, right? High, high, high, high level of skill, right? He just gotta get back to getting strong and, You know, I just, it's almost like a, it's like one of these, you know, when he shot the two free throws, like you're a real one, bro. But we understand, you know?

1000%. You know, I had, I actually had the opportunity to see Kobe shoot two free throws after tearing his ACL.

Oh, you was in that game, yeah.

That game, and then obviously Klay shoot two free throws after tearing his ACL. You know what I'm saying? It's just like a, Yeah. Just the respect you have for those guys because, man, when you, when I can only imagine going through those injuries. I've gotten injured, not like that, no, knock on wood. But like anytime you have any injury on the court, the last thing you're thinking about is, man, I need to go shoot these 2 free throws. Like you're immediately like, how bad is it? Like, ay, like the pain, you know, you're processing so much. And so I just applaud them. On that bravery, that love, that love for the game that they have to have those moments. And then I also think that there's a level of, I don't know how this recovery is gonna go. I don't know when I'll be back on the floor, but if this is it, you'll remember I shot my free throws before I left.

Totally. And I can respect that.

Speedy recovery to Kai, man. Get well, brother.

Many blessings, bro.

The game will miss you, but the game will welcome you back with open arms with that level of talent that Kyrie has. Till next time, that's a wrap.

We out.

Draymond Green Show with BD and all the isms.

Let the isms live. The big dog. Draymond Green Show, we out. Peace.