Steph Curry injury update, LeBron vs. Stephen A. beef & Harden-Wade debate | Draymond & Baron

You know what's crazy is people say you must respect each era, but the past eras don't respect this era.

I don't think that's true.

You don't see some of the things these guys say? What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show with my brother Baron Davis. How you feeling, my dog?

What's up, my bro? I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. How you feeling, most importantly?

I feel great, brother. I feel amazing. Happy to be out of Miami and on to the next city.

Me too.

About time to get the hell outta Miami. But other than that, I feel spectacular, man.

Good, good, good.

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And don't forget to follow us on all social media @DraymondShow. You don't want to miss all the exciting news. All right, Dub Nation, what's happening? Jimmy's return to Miami didn't go as planned, as we saw. But it seemed like the environment in Miami wasn't— I mean, I wouldn't say it wasn't so tough, but you know, you just never know going home. What was the biggest takeaway from, uh, from that Heat game? Because I know it was a lot of pressure for him and just a lot of pressure for y'all to want to win that game. And just the way they've been playing, it, it wouldn't seem— the environment wouldn't seem tough. But I want you to describe what it was like.

The atmosphere was actually cool. It was actually one of the best atmospheres I've ever seen at a Miami game. You know, usually when you play in Miami, the start of the game, the stands are half field. Start the whole third quarter, the stands are half field. You know, people come back in the fourth quarter when the club's closing the arena. That's usually how the Miami games are. People were in their seats for this game, which I found very interesting. To me, it sounded like their crowd was a little confused. It sounded like they— Yeah. Felt like they were supposed to be booing Jimmy.

But he got so much love.

There's so much love there. And so it wasn't quite the amount of boos that you thought, you know, with how the whole situation played out, that there would be. But quite honestly, I don't think there should have been a million boos. Because at the end of the day, Jimmy has had an opportunity to leave in free agency or go into free agency, and he decided to sign an extension and stay with the team. Every year, people continue to ask, they gonna bring in Damian Lillard, they're gonna bring in Giannis Antetokounmpo, they're gonna bring in this person, they're gonna bring in that person to double down and help Jimmy take this team to a championship. That never happened. And so at a certain point, Jimmy's in year 14, he's given them 7 years of his career. At a certain point, you just gotta appreciate what somebody's given and just like, they move on and it is what it is. Absolutely. In saying that, people aren't always rational and it is what it is. But I do think the environment was cool. It wasn't one of the toughest environments. But what did not help is that they were, they like, they turned into a bunch of Steph Currys out there. Like they shot 18 for 25 from 3 BD. That's unheard of.

Yeah, that's crazy. That's crazy numbers. And then, you know what, I'm watching the game and I'm like, damn, dude, you miss Wig.

Yes.

Right? You know, talk about how weird or just like playing against Wiggins. You know, he played good, he made timely shots. Same thing as we know him for with Dub Nation. You know, speak to that.

It was weird. You know, you've gone to war with a guy for the last, what, 5 years? And won championship, built a relationship. My kids cried when they found out Wiggs was gone because his kids and my kids have a great relationship. And they cried when they found out he was gone. I told Wiggs, I was like, "Man," 'cause I saw him obviously right after trade deadline and All-Star break. And I was like, "Wiggs, man, my kids was crying when they found out that your girls were gone." He was like, "Bro, that's the only thing Amaya kept saying." It's like, wait, so I don't get to see my friends anymore? And so there's just so much more than just basketball there. So to see a brother, your brother on the other side, it was definitely weird. Obviously I'm pissed off we lost the game we needed to win and wanted to win, but I'm also happy to see Wiggs play well.

Mm-hmm.

Because again, the love that's there, it's bigger than just a game, you know what I'm saying? I'm happy to see him playing well, starting to find his footing, because I think he got so much of his career left ahead of him. To see him starting to find his footing, finding his rhythm down in, you know, in that system, I think it's great. So I was happy to see him play well, although it resulted in us in a loss. But I don't, you know, you'd hate to see him struggle.

Yeah, nah, it just felt weird, you know, seeing him do that for them and knowing that, you know, all them shots and all the plays he making was timely. And then, man, I need a Steph Curry update. Like, what's the word on the chef? He practiced today.

Draymond Green played today. Full practice. We actually got up and down. We played a little bit. So he did that, which was great to see. Hit a couple threes right out the gate. That was beautiful to see. And then he got a full workout in after. And at one point I watched him make like 27 in a row from, from the right wing. So hopefully all signs is pointing to him playing in the New Orleans game. At least that's what we hope. There's been no official clearance given yet, but the hope is that he, that he's, You know, obviously you go through a full practice, you go through a full workout the way he did. The most important thing now is about how you wake up feeling in the morning. And so we'll see how he wakes up feeling in the morning, but I think all signs will be pointing to him returning. And you know, we need it because these games, we gotta lock in. Hopefully, like I said, he looked good and hopefully, you know, he wake up in the morning on the right side of it. So we can get it cracking.

I like opportunities like this. Like you coming off, you know, a tough loss in Miami, right? The road trip ain't off to the right track. And then you get a, you get a good practice in.

Yes, sir.

Talk about that. Like sometimes you just need to get a good practice in, to be a little upset, to be mad about something, to realize like, hey, let's get this thing back on track. Then to see Steph Curry in practice, I remember that happened for us in our We Believe year. Like, you know, we're on the road, we couldn't get a win, and I came back and practiced the next day, and it was just like the camaraderie, you know, like to be able to get up and down and be at full. Absolutely. Right? And to have your leader there. Talk about that a little bit, just the importance of practicing on the road. And then also talk about, you know, Steve Kerr says this all the time, this Pelican game, is really important. And talk about the importance of the practice and tell, tell me about the importance of this next game against the Pelicans.

The practice is really important because the reality is we haven't had any practice time. And so you start to see some slippage in the game. Um, you know, teams are starting to guard us a certain way now. The teams are adjusting to Jimmy being with us and there's more film. Uh, they're starting to guard us a certain way and we need practice time to learn how to attack the way that they're guarding us, you know. But without practice time, you're kind of just doing everything on the fly. So to have this Practice time today was huge. Also, like you said, coming off of, you know, losing the first 2 on the road, you kind of need to get back in the saddle, refocus. What is it that we're trying to accomplish? And, you know, hammer away at those things. And I think that's what we did. And so, like you said, to get up and down was good. Getting out of Miami and, you know, just getting that good sweat and getting, you know, finding that rhythm, I think that was good. So, you know, a much-needed practice. And then also, like you said, with Steph coming back on the court, you just see a different juice in everybody. Like, you know, it— Yeah. Perks everybody up because you know the possibilities, you know what lies ahead. And so I think, you know, overall just having him back is, it changes a lot. Obviously we know what it changes on the basketball court, but it changes the demeanor of everybody knowing that, you know, these next few games we go into will be whole, you know what I'm saying? And not missing Steph, or at least that's the hope, like I said. So come at a good time for us, you know, off to 0-2, best case would be to finish this road trip 4-2. And if we're able to do that, it's a great road trip. This New Orleans game is so important because shit, man, we're right there. Like, you know, the Clippers passed us to go 7, take the 6th spot in the West. But we're right there, obviously tied with the same amount of losses. They got a tough couple tough games that, that they'll face, but we still face them. So we still control our own destiny. And that's why it's important because you wanna keep yourself in the position of where you control your own destiny. This Pelicans team, they win They went and beat Minnesota a week and a half ago or so in a game that they weren't expected to win. So we know they're always gonna come out and play hard. They wanna play spoiler. We just gotta come out and play our brand of basketball, handle our business, not fuck around with the game and make sure we take care of our business to start building that momentum back up and make sure we finish these last 10 games strong.

I like that. You know what else I like about the practice is practicing, like not having the ability to practice, you make a lot of mistakes in the game. Trying to do, make counts, Facts. Right? And so practice, if you can get a few good practices in, you make all the mistakes thinking about the counters, you get to walk through the counters, you get to, you know, you get to move through the counters. That's what Nelly was always good about, is like trying to get us to practice so we could work on counters. Because like you said, like, now that Jimmy is playing, y'all getting scouted, you know, it's a different— it's a different Warrior look. So you need that practice to go back and say, okay, they playing— they playing me this way, when they playing you that way, you know, what are alternatives?

Absolutely.

And you know, it's always great to sharpen those tools.

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We just learned that Gary Payton II, uh, be out with a thumb injury. Talk about his impact and, uh, what needs to be replaced until he gets healthy.

Well, I mean, hopefully he's not out for that long. You know, hopefully he's only out for a couple weeks, which will be ideal. You know, if we can get him back, obviously he's our best point of attack defender. And so, you know, that's always tough to replace. Moses has been stepping up in that aspect, being a great point of attack defender. So he'll have to step that up another level. But GP's impact on the game is not, it's not just his point of attack defense. GP knows how to find a crease in defenses. He's He's great at finishing around the rim. He plays the dunker spot really well. He's a lob threat for us. And so he has a huge impact. He's a great screener for Steph. Him and Steph has a great chemistry, you know? And so that, that, that definitely has a big impact on our team. It has a big impact on rotations. I think there's been so much chatter about J.K. and what he need to do and how he need to find his lane and this, that, and the other. And what I would say with GP being out is if I'm Jonathan Kuminga, forget what everybody's talking about, forget what everybody's saying. If I'm Jonathan Kuminga right now, I'm saying, GP out, I wanna guard the best guard when I come in the game. I wanna be the point of attack defender. I'mma hawk this guard. I'mma change the momentum of the game. I'm gonna embrace, yes, I'm gonna embrace that because we know he can score, right? Like we know what he's capable of on the offensive end. Imagine him embracing that role and saying, "I'm guarding the best defender. I'm picking up full. I'm gonna work myself to exhaustion because I'm gonna defend so hard." Like, that's how you win championships. And so, um, if I'm Jonathan Kaminga, that's my mindset. And I think he's more than capable of being that and doing that. Um, and if he does, golly, changes everything.

I've been saying that if he can take, you know, a piece of angriness, right, He needs to be angry, uh, on the defensive end, but also be able to be that, uh, that bridge between you and Jimmy. And from what— from what I'm hearing from you is really he should be the connective tissue, the starting point, right? He should be the weak side block guy. He should be, you know, taking the challenge. And, you know, I've been saying this all year is Kaminga takes that next level when he decides that he wants to be Defensive Player of the Year, right? Because he has the capabilities of doing that. He also has the offense to do that, and his defense is going to be his best offense. And I think it just— it'll open up the world, the world of events for him. But, uh, before moving on, uh, to upcoming games, speaking of Kaminga, it was a clip of him and Caris LeVert. Kaminga was talking trash to each other, and then I, I hear you drop the line the top rope, you've been traded 7 times. Like, why, why, why does Draymond Green— You just hit him with the cootie girl.

Well, number one, I, I didn't— I had no idea the microphones caught my voice. Um, I thought I was just suddenly at the free throw line buttoning, and then I got to my phone and they like, Dave, like, why you kill him like that? And I'm like, what? Like, my response to my boys, like, dang, y'all caught that? They was like, yeah, the TV caught it for sure. I was like, dang, my bad. And you know, some of my boys in the group chat from Michigan State, they like, fuck that, he from the other side anyway. But some of them—

Oh wow, yep, yep, yep.

But some of my, a couple of my boys in the group chat also went to Michigan. So then this sparks this Michigan, Michigan State thing in our group chat. But I actually, I know Karris through one of my boys in the group chat that went to Michigan. Karris a good dude, man. You know, we banter back and forth on the court. That's just what it is. That's what happens in the game. It's just fun and games, you know, we always gonna banter. But I will tell you, the reason I jumped in, I was just checking into the game too. And I butted in because all I heard was, like, he looking at J.K., like, at the free throw line, and he was like, You was this close to being traded. That's what he said. Like, you was this close to being traded. And so that's all I heard. I didn't hear anything else that was said. All I heard was, you was this close to being traded, which was why my response was, bro, you've been traded 7 times. Like, what you— how you gonna talk to him about almost being traded and you've been traded 7 times? So then Trey and Nate picked it up. Trey go, hey, chill, Draymond Green, they just talking junk, man.

Shit.

And then Kairis goes, he started talking about me being traded first. But I wasn't hearing none of that at that point. I had already went off the top rope and it was what it was.

Yeah, it's over.

And I just took off on down the court.

Boom.

I took off on down the court. But apparently JK must have said to him like something about you keep getting traded. And so then he like, he was this close to me, but I ain't hear all that. All I heard was, You was this close to being— and the last thing you're gonna do to one of my guys is talk about them being this close to me. I can't, I can't go with that. I can't go with that. But, uh, no, I got a lot of love for Kairis, man.

Good dude. Yeah, shout out to Kairis. We got love for you, bro. Uh, I just like the now of the league. It's a lot of chippiness, you know, everybody talking smack to each other like it's real, real conversations. And like, you don't get a lot of that. It's getting back to this macho, macho thing. And it has to. Yeah. Yeah, don't cross my territory. It has to. And I like what these young dudes is coming in 'cause they trying to claim their territory. They trying to establish themselves. And you got— Anytime you got the old with the new, it is gonna create some chippiness, right? It's gonna create more competitiveness. And these games have been great to watch. Because of that.

Yep.

For sure. Real rivalry's gonna be built off of this. You know, people gonna have real vendettas versus teams. And so this part of the season, somebody gonna get bumped. And so it creates a lot of opportunity for rivalries. And I say for the young dudes, like, man, keep talking shit to Draymond.

As you should. As you should.

You know? Keep talking. Keep talking that shit. You know? Like, yeah. And keep standing up to the OGs, 'cause— it's just gonna build that competitive edge.

The reason they should keep talking to me, you know why? Because I talked to every old head when I came in the league. I talked to every single one of them. Yeah, you did. Absolutely. I wasn't trying to hear none of that. I don't care what you did before I got here. Go talk to somebody else who you did that against because you ain't do that against me. So I don't got no respect for that. Like, that's the type of time I came in on. So I respect when guys come in on that type of time. And guys talking the way they talking, you right. That is how these different rivalries are gonna be built. Which is going to attack the problem when you start talking about viewership, because you need rivals when you're talking about viewership. And all those things has kind of been torn down. So I'm excited as hell, man, that, that, that the league is kind of getting back to that chippiness. Referees are letting guys talk and not causing the double tech right away. Like, that's the stuff that people want to see. Nobody want to see somebody say something, somebody say something back, boom, double tech. Like, nobody want to see robots play. This is real life. Yeah.

Yeah, we need the referees to be chaperones. They need to be chaperones. That's what I say. You know, hey, hey, too close, call a foul every now and again, but let these young boys do they thing. Like, they trying to climb up on the totem pole, and we need for that to happen. It's a pecking order in the league. It's a hierarchy in the league. These young dudes gotta see it, believe it, and talk about it to themselves.

Somebody gotta take this crown. Somebody gotta take the crown. Can't be the king of the parking lot forever. Somebody got to take the trash talk crown.

For sure.

We got to see it right now.

For sure.

The young fellas that's leading the charge now, Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant, them boys leading the charge. Shaq don't say a bunch, but Shaq hit you with a bunch of like, He give you a bunch of facial expressions.

He got hand grips.

Like his Instagram caption. Like he give you a bunch of expressions, a bunch of little subtle jabs, but like really in your face talking.

Paulo be talking to people. He be letting them know.

Paulo do talk. These young boys starting to talk a little bit again. I like that.

The Pelicans are next up. You played against Zion Williamson early in the season. You talked about how tough it was, the difference in his game since they traded away Brandon Ingram. And like, what's the philosophy going into a game like this playing against Zion, especially the way he playing?

He's playing great basketball. You know, he looks like he's in incredible shape. He looks explosive. He looks as explosive as he did at Duke. That's a monster, you know what I'm saying? But he's so much more aggressive now since the trade deadline, since he's been back in the lineup since the trade. He's so much more aggressive to get downhill and they're running a lot of things to get him downhill. He's really pressing the issue, putting a lot of pressure on the rim. So, you know, you just, like I always say, you gotta meet force with force. Zion is gonna always come very forceful. And in order to match him, you have to meet that force with force. If you don't, you get ran over. And that's just what it is. And so— Right. You know, hopefully he plays tomorrow. I know he had been out the last few games since they played Minnesota. You know, I love playing against guys like Zion because they just, like, when you play against the guys, They bring the best outta you. You know what I'm saying? They bring you— you know you gotta bring your A-game and they bring the best outta you. So I hope he plays tomorrow. You know, like I said, I always look forward to a matchup, especially against these younger guys too, because it allows you to see where you at. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, they legs a little different than yours these days. So it allows you to see like, all right, I'm here still, you know? You know, you always want to take on that, want that tough challenge. I enjoy the tough challenge.

And so—

Yeah.

But he been balling, man. You gotta give him his credit.

He in incredible shape.

You know, shout out to Zion. A lot of people talked a lot of shit about Zion and, you know, he doing the work and, you know, got himself in great shape and playing great basketball. So shout out to him.

Y'all face the Spurs after the Pelicans. Right now, Stephon Castle seems to be Rookie of the Year front runner. Do you think he should win Rookie of the Year?

I think he should. I think I spoke about him earlier this year, uh, on the pod when, after we played them. And I was just saying like, yo, I think that kid gonna be real. Um, when I look at the rookie class, he's been the most consistent all year. He's been the most consistent player all year. I think everybody else has been up and down. He's been extremely consistent. There's no one in the rookie class that's done anything that jumps off the page. And so I think, you know, if there's, there's no one that's done anything that jumps off the page, the next thing, except Stephon Castle has had games that jump off the page to you now. Mm-hmm. Man, he has some crazy games.

He's had some of those games for sure.

But I mean the whole body of work over the court, you know, like there's no rookie averaging 20 points.

There hasn't been a dominant rookie.

Yeah. You haven't seen that. Nonetheless, I think with his consistency, if you haven't had the dominance from someone, he has had some great games that jump off the page, but his consistency all year would make him the Rookie of the Year. That's so great. And as I said before, I think you look back at this Rookie of the Year, you give this Rookie of the Year to some other guys, possibly you look back and be like, damn, he won Rookie of the Year.

Ah, he won Rookie of the Year.

You get this Rookie of the Year to Stephon Castle, you gonna look back in 2 years like, well, he All-Star, so I guess we got it right. So he got that potential. He will reach that potential.

We gotta get it right.

That's the guy. He, he should be Rookie of the Year. 1000%.

I think he should get it. He deserves it. Consistency showed up at All-Star Weekend, performed dunk contest, took the second half of the season, stepped up. This game up shows that he's ready for the next level, right? And he can do it at this level at a consistent basis. And we haven't seen that from, you know, a lot of rookies, especially high draft pick rookies at all this season. And so there's been that, you know, that rookie lull or inconsistent. Man, this dude, he really building something. And I, I like his brand. I like the way he play. You know, no Fox, no Wimby. Absolutely. Right? You got Chris Paul, you got your OG over there helping you out. So he, he's destined to be great.

Look at the point guards that Chris Paul mentored. They came into the league, people thought they'd be backup point guards. They end up going other places and started. Eric Blesso, Darren Collison, Dennis Schroeder. Like these are all guards that CP at one point or another mentored, you know? And, and all those guys, take another step. Campaigne was out of the league. Chris Paul actually saved Campaigne's career, like taught him how to be a pro, taught him how to be a point guard. Like Chris Paul actually saved his career. And so now you take this level of talent, 6'6", size, and he get to learn from Chris Paul. Sky's the limit for Stephon Castle.

Man, y'all talked about the atmosphere in Memphis is always—

wow.

What happened? When did this start? I need the, I need the history. To the beef with Memphis?

Anytime you beat a team in the playoffs, there's some beef. And on the way to our first championship, they had Z-Bo, they had Marc Gasol, they had T.A., they had Mike Conley. We beat them in the playoffs and we came back from down 2-1 to win 4-2 and move on to win a championship. Beef started, but it wasn't really serious then because they're, you know, them Marc, Draymond Green, T.A., Ibo, them all OGs. Like, so it ain't gonna be no real beef with them. But it's like, you know, it's kind of this thing brewing, you know? It's like, man, they got us. Like, it's a little hatred coming from that fan base. But it wasn't like that with those guys because, like I said, they OGs, man, and we got so much respect for them that it was never a thing.

Right.

Then they started this younger group. And when they started this younger group, they kind of start, you know, talking a lot we play 'em in the playoffs again. You know, they talking about they gonna beat us and rightfully so. Like, you know, Ja and all those guys coming in, like they watched us growing up winning championships. And so they come in on that type of time. I get it. Again, I came in on that type of time. So I rock with it.

They came in the playoffs on villain time. They was really on some upset. They wanted to upset y'all. I think they were the higher seed that year, right?

They were the higher seed that year. And you know, we went in, we took care of business, you know? So that's kind of where it really took off, you know? And then the one game they play, "Whoop That Trick," we dancing to it. They beating our ass, we still dancing to "Whoop That Trick." And so it's just kind of been things that elevated it more and more as these years have gone on. That beef, I don't call it a real beef because at the end of the day, in order for it to be a real beef, it's gonna require two teams to win. We beat them in the playoffs. Right. Besides, they ain't beat us. So until that happens, It's like, yeah, it's always gonna be competitive. There's always gonna be a little bad blood, but until you win in the playoffs, it means nothing. Regular season beefing.

That part.

Y'all win the playoffs, that's just what it is. Speaking of Memphis, I saw earlier, a few days ago, Desmond Bane shoves Santi Aldama, his teammate, off his feet and to the bench. On the bench during a timeout. Have you had a moment like that with a teammate?

Nah, man. Like, not in public. You know, I had some moments with some teammates my rookie year. I didn't pass one of my teammates the ball. And he said, "Pass the ball, you motherfucker." Ooh, Jesus.

I would love to know who that was.

I dropped the ball and ran up on him during the game. Man, and we was running back on defense and he running, bro, I'm running right next to him. I'm on his line. Hey, hey, after the game, it's cracking. After the game, it's cracking. I'll be waiting for you.

Who's the teammate? He ain't gonna tell us the teammate.

No, it was my, 'cause it was my rookie year and I was out of line, You know, you being a rookie, everybody feel like they can talk to you any type of way. And I, I kind of was like, bro, I'm not having it from you. You can't talk to me like that. I'll see you in the parking lot after the game. Coach was like, man, what's going on? I'm telling you, I dropped the ball and I walked up on him, said, what'd you say to me, man? We running back on defense, I'm running next to him. Coach called timeout. Oh, man. What the hell's wrong? They call Silas a sucker.

Hey OG, wherever you at out there, way to punky, 'cause he even scared to say your name. So whoever you are out there OG, when you hear this clip, just know you punked BD and I respect it. You got my utmost respect.

That's my dog. I got love for him. I got all the love. That's my brother. I got all the love for him. Everybody crossed the line and you realize playing in the league, In the league, there's a certain line that you don't cross, and everybody got a temperament. And for me, I think my rookie year, I was so happy-go-lucky when I'm in the league, when I'm in the game. And off the court, I was really playful, fun, you know, cracking jokes. A lot of times, they took my kindness for weakness. And so—

You had a—

Everybody got a, All right, I see I went a little too far. I'm not gonna cross the line with that. You know, I'm not gonna cross the line with that, Derek. Scared your ass. So he just misjudged. Scared your ass. He didn't scare— no, he ain't scared nothing. I was in that parking lot, bro, for like an hour and a half sitting there waiting.

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Around the League. The biggest news around the league is the ongoing back and forth between, obviously, LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith.

Oh, man.

What's your take on it now?

I saw some of the things that Stephen A said over the last day or so. I saw he put out an apology for mentioning Kobe and also kind of miss mentioning Kobe. He issued an apology for that. I don't know, man. I don't really have many takes on it. Like, it kind of is what it is. I'm kind of sick of seeing it. I was a little baffled by Stephen A saying that he would've swung on Bron after he just kind of questioned me saying When you talk like that where I'm from, you get hands put on you. And he kind of did this whole thing of trying to use my basketball career and things that have happened on the basketball court, because I'm actually really good at basketball and made it to the NBA, that he wants to try to use that to try to use it against me for my next career. I saw him doing that. And then to come out and do the very thing that you kind of tried to use against me, I thought was a Petty. Not only petty, but like—

Snarky.

Snarky, but contradictory to what you just did. You know what I'm saying? Like, yo, you've had moments before, you need to not say nothing about hands, but then, you know, you start talking about swinging on someone. You know what I'm saying? So I thought Bron's post was hilarious.

Conflicted, conflicted, conflicted and contradicting views on— What you really trying to say?

But I just remember the days when, like, media used to talk basketball. It's so all over the place now.

Here, I got the solution. After the season, we build a boxing ring back here at Slick Studios. Whoever in the media want to catch fade, put on some gloves. Then we'll have a— Then we'll have the main event, LeBron, versus Stephen A. And we won't even do real boxing gloves. We'll get the big old boxing gloves.

18-ounce boxing gloves.

18, yeah. Let 'em swing. Let 'em get their frustration out. Draymond Green versus Jason Whitlock.

Why, why, why, why Jason Whitlock? I don't know that dude.

Or Stephen A. Or Kendrick Perkins versus LeBron. Oh, Kendrick Perkins versus KD. That'll be hard. Everybody beefing, bro. Everybody beefing for what? But it's crazy that why all these people on LeBron, right? There's constant conversation about LeBron on the Pat McAfee Show. And you know, you must respect each era, right? That's the whole thing. They saying you gotta respect each era. We know LeBron is big media. My question is, you, to you is, uh, what other era would you have enjoyed playing?

You know what's crazy is people say you must respect each era, but the past eras don't respect this era.

I don't think that's true.

Shit me, you don't see some of the things these guys say, man?

I think it, I think really at the, at the baseline of it all, and here's my problem with the whole ecosystem, we don't do a good enough job of telling everybody's story. And so the eras don't really get the appreciation because the media encapsulate the era into like one team, two teams, three teams of storyline. When you look at Michael— like, and here's the thing, you look at Michael Jordan, you look at LeBron James, there's so many dope players that played in the era of Michael Jordan that didn't win a championship. There's a lot of dope players that you guys played against and had to go through the playoffs that don't get mentioned. Only the Warriors get mentioned, you know? And rightfully so, champions get mentioned. And so I think the respect from the old is really, "Do the young dudes fuck with us? Do they know who we are?" Because I think for our era, it was more so, "How can we be throwback and nostalgic?" And so that's why you get a lot of hate from the older generation, because they just want to be kept alive, 'cause they alive, right? Why shouldn't they story be a part of this whole melting pot? And it's not just we talking about the same shit, or if we're comparing players, like, let's see somebody highlights, let's see somebody stats, let's have them talk about the players that they played against, because—

Yeah.

One era always think that the other era is sorry until you leave the game and have an appreciation for the talent that you had to play against each and every night.

I agree with what you're saying to a certain extent, but I disagree in the fact that no, like these, these eras don't respect us. Like I've seen several guys talk over and over and over again, not in a positive light. Just, just a, just a month and a half ago, Oscar Robinson said, I do nothing on the basketball court. On the basketball court. Yeah, I got a chance to put on the same jacket he put on. But he said unprompted, like, I, I didn't say anything about Oscar Robinson. I didn't say anything about players from his generation. I actually said something about players from our generation. And he then took it upon himself to completely try to lessen who I am as a basketball— He may not like your game. And you don't have to like my game. But to say I do nothing on the basketball court, Like, that's either disrespectful or dumb. Like, it's one of the two. Like, you're either being disrespectful or you're not smart. So you pick. And I'm gonna say it's disrespect because I, I'd like to believe he's smart. And so, yeah, I don't think that respect is passed down to us from the other generations, but I think people are quick to say, oh, you got to respect them because they came before. Nah, I don't, I, I, I don't agree with that. Draymond Green. I disagree with that. Here's another thing though, BD.

You absolutely have to. I'm not, my mama ain't raise me that way. Absolutely respect the people who came before you.

My respect is earned. And what you did to somebody else don't necessarily earn you respect me.

No, I'm not saying from a, I'm just saying like, you know, from a player perspective, a power forward before Draymond Green, was a Draymond Green type of power forward.

Mm-hmm.

Right? And even though you are a one of one, like, there is a Klaw or a Shaq or someone that you highly respect. That's why we respect where we come from and how we got there. Because if it wasn't— It don't have to be all the dudes, like, 'cause I still be beefing with people. I still don't like people. I still think people are sorry, but that's my personal opinion. I feel that. Right? That's my personal opinion. But I do have respect somewhat.

Exactly. We starting to get real now. You just can't tell me everybody deserve respect.

That's not a fact. There are—

Everybody don't deserve respect. Just because you played before me, you don't deserve respect.

There are a lot of people in the club and can't everybody dance.

Facts, BD. Just because you played before me does not mean you deserve respect. I'm sorry, but God had in his plan for you to be born before me and you just deserve respect because of that? What? Nah, my mom ain't raised me that way. Respect is earned. Obviously this conversation is stemming from Bron saying that Giannis will have 250 points in the '70s. But here's my thing though, BD. The problem I have with it is this. Everybody attacked the statement, which attacked the statement.

I don't think that he would though. I think Giannis will have like 17 points in the '70s.

I think you trippin'.

All right, can I tell you this? Can I give you this scenario?

Yeah, sure.

A dude from Greece, right?

Mm-hmm.

Comes to the United States in the '70s to play in the NBA, where you don't make a lot of money, times is hard, you don't have a trainer, you got Converse, right? You got Converse. And you may or may not have to have some type of side job because the league ain't really paying you enough to go back to Greece and take care of your family. Now, who's gonna help you back then acclimate to the United States and the NBA? Now take all those factors with the Converse, or whatever they was, the Flats.

Hey, you gonna stop with Converse. I, I, I— that's, that's my family now.

I love Converse. No, I love— Bro, I rock Converse. I'm just saying, I rock Converse.

You said Draymond Green, of course you rock Chucks.

Yeah, of course I rock Chuck Taylors, but what I'm saying is playing in Chuck Taylors, that was the luxury shoe. Oh, you right. Could you play in Chuck Taylors?

No. Yeah, I can't play in a lot of shoes though.

So you can't play in the '70s, bro?

All right, now. Hey, time out.

Time out. Now, a player from the '70s, right? If he was Encino, man, and you transported him now, into the NBA and he came out the ice with his Chuck Taylors on, his high shorts, afro, and he's 6'9", 45-inch bird, can only dribble with his right hand, will block everything, dunk everything, and shoot bank shots.

Listen.

Now he got the trainer.

Let me know when you done, Charles Barkley.

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

Goddamn, Chuck. We talk about media members. You see what you've done to this generation of media members, Chuck? He won't even let me talk. Shaq, I feel your pain. This man won't even let me get a word out. You know why he won't let me get a word out? Because in order— in order for him to go against Bron's claim that Giannis would average 250 points, he had to make it about it being no FaceTimes in the '70s, no good shoes in the '70s, no good jobs in the '70s. He had to make it about that as opposed to just making it strictly basketball, which is the statement that was being made.

The skills ain't gonna translate.

My point that I was actually going to make to you, Charles, is that why do— when people talk about basketball and Bron say something like he said, people get all up in arms as if 55 years of basketball play did not change the skill level, did not change the fitness level, did not change the understanding of the game, did not change the nuances, did not change the offenses run, did not change how the defenses run, 55 years, within those last 55 years, all of those things have changed. Nobody said, hey, if you take Giannis, put him back in the '70s, but you have to now make him a '70s basketball player. That wasn't the point. The point was, if you take Giannis Antetokounmpo, who he is today, and he played in the '70s, he'd have 250 points. And so that's the problem that I have. Is Google got better with time. Facebook— MySpace went away. Facebook became this conglomerate because they saw MySpace mistakes. It was like, we're gonna add this, we're gonna do that. So everything gets better with time. But for some reason, for some reason, when we're talking basketball, it don't get better with time and everything should be, everything's equal to what it was before. And that's just not the case. And so, So you look at where players are today, it's no disrespect to players of the '70s, but everything has changed. Everything. We don't play the same game of basketball that they played in the '70s. There was no 3-point line. There was no defensive 3-second. We don't play the same game of basketball that they played. So now you take these skill sets of today and put them in that era. I'm sorry, it's gonna be hard for them players in the '70s.

Okay, let's take a TV timeout. We gotta answer these 3 questions. That are going on in the media right now. Is Paul George a first ballot Hall of Famer? Gilbert Arenas says he is. Chandler Parsons says he isn't.

I say 1000%. Uh, Paul George got like 9 All-Star appearances. He got several All-NBA appearances. He has a gold medal somewhere close to 20,000 points, I'm sure. Uh, if not more. I'm not sure exactly how many he got. But if you look at some of the people that are in the Hall of Fame, Paul George had better careers than them. Paul George is absolutely a first ballot Hall of Famer with the body of work that he has. Are there some things you don't like about Paul George? Of course. You can say he didn't win. You could say, oh, he was a little soft. You can say whatever you want.

One more word.

You can say whatever you want to say. They may be valid, maybe not. Didn't win is valid, okay. Is he soft?

That's your opinion.

Some people will say yes. That's your opinion. Don't really matter. Paul George resume says first ballot Hall of Fame. If you remove Paul George name from his resume, which then allows— which then forces you to remove your feelings about Paul George, and you put his resume there and remove the feelings, remove the face, remove the name, That's a first ballot Hall of Fame resume.

18,000+ points. Hey man, get that man his flowers. All right, number 2, James Harden or D-Wade? Per Patrick Beverley, he picks Harden over D-Wade because of longevity.

Man, I played against both of 'em and really both of 'em in their prime. Like I played D-Wade, I came into the league, they was winning championships in Miami. But in saying that, Man, James Harden's so fucking good, bro.

He's so fucking good, bro. He's so good.

The reason I'm going to pick D-Wade, I'm gonna pick D-Wade, A, he won championships, and he won championship as Finals MVP carrying a team in his third year. I'm gonna pick, yes, he had the Diesel, of course, and Diesel changed everything, but I'm gonna pick D-Wade because of that reason. I'm gonna also pick D-Wade because I think if Harden stayed a 2-guard, his career isn't necessarily what it is today. Him changing over to the point guard changed everything. Now, don't get me wrong, he still would've been an All-Star. He still would've been perennial, all of those things. But I mean, the dominance that James Harden had as a point guard, I don't think he would've had that same dominance as a 2-guard. And so I think right now what's being compared is the idea that James Harden is a 2. Because you're comparing to D-Wade, but he not a 2. James Harden's best years in the NBA and majority of his years, he's a point guard. And so I don't really love the comparison. I think early in James' career, the comparison was there because he was a 2. Once he switched to the point, he became one— nobody says it, but he became one of the best point guards we've ever seen. And so in saying that, I just don't think the comparison is there. And that's why I'm just gonna pick D-Wade, because I didn't gotta go with the body of work. NBA Finals and NBA Finals MVP, probably the same amount of All-Stars as James, probably the same amount of All-NBAs as James. Obviously doesn't have what— James won 2 MVPs, right?

Yeah, something like that. I mean, they— I mean, it measures up.

1, 2, whatever. He won an MVP, you know what I'm saying? So I just think it's not a good comparison. One's a point guard, one of the better point guards we've ever seen. One's one of the better 2 guards we've ever seen. So So I don't really understand the comparison, and that's why I'm gonna go with D-Wade, because I start picking on certain things, and the 3 championships gotta roll with that.

D-Wade started his career his rookie season as a point guard.

For 1 year.

I'm just saying, uh, for 1 year, maybe 2, I believe. Uh, no, he moved to the 2 his second year. James Harden started at the 2, moved to the point guard. Okay, the hardest thing to do is to go from a 2 to a 1. And then D-Wade, I would say over the course of D-Wade's career, and I understand what Pat Bev is saying about longevity, D-Wade played the 2, the 3, and the 4. So he started as, you know, like one of the best swingmen ever in the game.

He wasn't really no 4.

But he played the 4.

Yeah, so, so has Klay Thompson. He I mean, Kevin Durant, like Paul George, all these guys have played the 4 at this point.

Klay Thompson has never been a 4.

No, no, no, no, no. There's been lineups where he's been the 4.

Klay Thompson has never been the 4.

I've seen film. I've seen film of Klay Thompson as the 4 in some of our lineups.

And he's a what?

He's a shooting guard.

Okay.

But it's a new NBA though. Hey, yo, 2s play the 4 all the time.

Thank you. But he is a—

And D-Wade is too.

Shooting guard.

Man, come on, BD. That's, that's terrible. Come on, BD.

I'm just saying. That's what I'm saying. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. D-Wade has been on the court with a point guard, a shooting guard, D-Wade, LeBron, and Udonis Haslem, correct?

Yes. LeBron was the 4.

D-Wade was the what? 3.

Who was the 2?

Or the 2. It's harder to go from a 2 to a 1.

I can agree with that.

This is why I go with Jet. And then on top of that, being a system is much harder because you are the system. So you, you're, you're somewhere in between a D-Wade and LeBron. That is the only thing that's stopping you from being LeBron or having that same type of cachet à la Dirk Nowitzki, one-one. But we know how tough that road and that journey was. Is the Warriors one of the most dominant teams in NBA history? And so I look at degree of difficulty, who has to do it on their own, right, as the system. So you have to be all cylinders and everything rests on you, as opposed to I am one of the best complementary— Draymond Green. All-time greatest one-of-ones that could be in that category too, right?

Listen, I played against James Harden in the, like, peak of his prime. Very meaningful games. Is Dwight Howard a Hall of Famer?

He will be. He should be.

Okay, so you just gonna act like he ain't had Dwight Howard, who's a Hall of Famer? You just say he did it by himself. He had Dwight Howard.

No, I didn't say he did it by himself. I said he did it as the system.

Yeah, but he still had great players to make that system work.

Yes, absolutely, bro. Absolutely fucking— he did. But as the system is harder on you being the focal point of the team and of the offense— not saying that D-Wade was not the focal point of the Miami Heat, but he was not the focal point of the Miami Heat. That was LeBron James.

In '06, he wasn't.

That was Shaquille O'Neal.

Man, stop it. I'm a huge Shaq fan. Shaq even said, hey man, this is his team. Shaq himself said this.

Yeah, 'cause he was killing.

Okay, so you can't say what's the focal point?

Because he was killing. He caught flame. He was killing. We didn't see that. Nobody saw that coming. Shaq was the one getting the attention.

Hey, listen. All right, listen.

I'll ask you this question, Biggie. The system, the system ran around.

So I'm gonna ask you this question.

Andre Iguodala was the MVP for the Golden State Warriors, but who was the—

That's all fine and dandy, but you not about to say Andre Iguodala and Dwyane Wade run in the finals are the same.

I'm not, I'm not.

That's crazy.

I'm not saying that. I am saying there's more pressure on Steph Curry to not get it.

Yeah, but it ain't apples to apples.

As opposed to—

Dwyane Wade, that ain't apples to apples.

You know what I'm saying?

But I'm gonna ask you this question.

I'm not comparing Andre to D-Wade.

Let me ask you this question.

Go ahead.

All things considered, money.

Yeah.

Accolades, you name it. All things considered, are you yourself, if you left this earth and they came, they, you come back and they said, here's this resume, here's this resume, which one do you want to be? Are you picking James Harden resume? Or are you picking Dwyane Wade's resume?

Any basketball player who wants to achieve greatness at the highest level is going to take the resume of the champion. But if you, if you took away the resume and showed me the style—

Oh yeah, James is different.

And said, hey, who do I, which style would I like to, uh, import myself in as an NBA player? Like, Like for me personally, James Harden.

Of course, James. I don't question that one bit.

Like I wanna play point guard. I wanna rock like James Harden. You know, like I like how, I like his style. I like his freedom. Not saying that if I was a shooting guard, right? If I was a shooting guard, I would pick Dwyane Wade. Mm-hmm. Right?

I will.

I like that mode. I can dunk on people, cross people. Nobody can guard me, you know? MVP, like that's gonna be your mode. But in this James or D-Wade, it's like the way I look at it resume-wise, yes, fuck yes. D-Wade is like, you don't lose. There is no loss.

No, there's no loss. Neither one of them. I'll take both.

Yeah, there's—

Give me one of them, I'll take both.

Like, no, that's what I'm saying. Like there's no loss. So like I'm just be throwing up comparisons trying to figure out how tight of a comparison. Comparison can we make to these players when you really can't compare 'em because their resumes are different, their games are different, their styles are different. And it's like, damn, if somebody told me I can be D-Wade, you damn skippy, I wanna be D-Wade. If somebody told me I can be James Harden, you damn skippy, I wanna be James Harden. And so like, man, you, it, it, it's a win-win.

I agree.

Last one. Cooper Flagg will be the best player to ever come outta Duke.

No. I disagree wholeheartedly.

I disagree. Colin Cowherd said they've got 90 guys in the NBA. I think Cooper Flagg's going to be the best NBA player ever. Damn.

Stop playing.

No.

Good luck, Cooper Flagg.

We don't need to talk about that.

I root for you. Wanna see you do great. I disagree with that whole— I don't even think you can get Cooper Flagg to agree to that. BD, before we get outta here, I got another wait, what? I'm gonna read a quote and you'll guess which head coach in the NBA made this quote. I didn't get enough credit for getting the 3 wins.

Doc Rivers.

How Craig, I got, you know, I got mad love for Doc. Come on, Doc. As someone who's won a championship, Doc, you can't say that.

Doc is one of my— I like Doc because he a personality, but you know, hey man, we know, we know, we know, we know.

Don't you say that shit to nobody else, Doc. If you say that to somebody else, it's gonna get back to me and we gonna have to talk about it. Man, BD, before we get outta here, bro, just wanna wish, uh, Watts' own Juju Watkins well and a speedy recovery. I worked out with Juju when she was in the 10th grade. I think I spoke about this before. And she struggled the first workout and came back the next day ready to go. And I was like, wow. I knew she'd be special just by seeing her skillset, but then also seeing the work ethic. And to see her go through this as women's college basketball's brightest star, I hate to see it. I wish her well. Sending a lot of love her way to her parents. I know she'll get through this. All the work that she put in, she gonna come back stronger. But wanna wish Ju well. And then also wanna wish Dame Dolla well. Dame's dealing with a blood clot in his calf. And I mean, basketball is basketball. When you start talking blood clot, we talking about life, you know? And just wanna send my love and well wishes to Dame Dolla on getting healthy and getting back. But forget getting back, just getting healthy because that's nothing to play with. So wanna send my love and my well wishes to both of them.

Same way, Dame. You know how I feel about you, bro. Can't wait to have you back. You know, you one of the Bay Area's finest, one of the league's finest, one of my favorite point guards and one of my favorite rappers. But we know Dame is resilient. We know Dame, you know, take the proper steps. And then similar to Juju, I would say my story with Juju is more personal. Bobby, her pops, and moms, you know, those are my people. And so I've been knowing Juju since, you know, she was in high school, almost middle school. And, you know, it's really just family love. So we sending our love out to Juju. We know she gonna come back. Outside of UCLA, USC, you know, we all wanna see you on the court. I think she represents Represents LA, LA hoop culture, everything to the fullest. And I am personally pulling for Juju to come back stronger than ever. And, you know, at this as a part of her journey and a quest to be one of the greatest to ever do it. So get well soon, Juju. Get well soon, Dame Dollin.

And lastly, before we get out of here, shout out to the legend Candace Parker. She will be getting her jersey retired by the Los Angeles Sparks this year. I think that's incredible. I then look forward to the Chicago Sky retiring her jersey after she brought a championship to her hometown. So shout out to CP.

CPZ.

Mad love for CP.

Candace Parker.

One of the GOATs.

That's my girl.

Appreciate y'all for tuning in. BD, I always appreciate you, my brother.

Let's get these wins on the road. Let's go.

You already know. That's a wrap from this episode of the Draymond Green Show with the legend Baron Davis. Till next time.

We out. Peace.