Steph Curry IS BACK! Luka Injury Reaction & Final Four Picks

What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. On today's show, we'll discuss Steph Curry is returning on Sunday versus the Houston Rockets. I'll share my thoughts on that. Plus the Thunder, they got at the Lakers 2 times in a row. I don't know if that's a sign of things to come, but ESPN has revealed the latest results from their MVP straw poll. And most importantly, I think, of the week is we have an incredible new Hall of Fame class headed into the Basketball Hall of Fame. So let's get right into it. Um, I told you all last podcast that Steph Curry may return. You know, I don't know if that's one day or five days from now, uh, but whether it's one day or five days, and if you, if you go back and do the math, five days from when I said that, Sunday. Steph Curry is returning on Sunday versus the Houston Rockets. And thank God. We're excited, obviously. But number one, just to see him back out there on the floor. The NBA is a much better place with Steph Curry on the floor. I think we all can agree with that. From a team perspective for us, I think the most important thing— for us the last few weeks has been staying competitive, making sure that we're building great habits so that, you know, I realistically don't believe we had enough. But continuing to build the right habits, continuing to stay competitive, continuing to keep the spirits high so that when Steph returns, when Al returns, you're not trying to break bad habits. You know, you plug those guys in where they go. And you try to build on the good habits that we've been working on. You try to build on some of the experiences that these guys have been getting due to the injuries. You try to build on that. And if you just let go of the rope while Steph's out, you know, while Al's out, when they do come back, it's just gonna be more of the same. And so that's been the focus for the last few weeks. And quite honestly, we didn't win a ton of games, but I think what we did was build some good habits. What we did was show that, you know, guys have grown different areas. What we did is show that we can stay competitive in these games. And now you get your reinforcements back and you try to give yourself a chance. So going into this play-in situation, you know, you go in healthy, little fresh, but I think that is one, upside of the injuries. But also with a group of guys that, you know, has been there. You know, I've been there, Steph's been there, Al Horford's been there, Porzingis has been there. You know, you go in with a group of guys that has played at a high level, mixed with guys who hasn't had much of those opportunities. And you roll the dice and see what you get. You know, and so— Yeah. We're excited as hell. As I told you all, there was never really an idea of Steph shutting it down. He's been working to get back and obviously he had the frustrating days in between, but there was never really talk of like, yo, let's shut it down. Like he, it's just not who he is. And so we're excited as hell, man. And honestly, you just wanna give yourself a shot at the playoffs. You give yourself a chance. That's all you can ask for. Obviously down Jimmy, obviously down Moses. You just wanna give yourself a chance. And so that's our goal down the stretch over these next 5 games to build some continuity, get guys used to playing. You know, you've had guys get these huge opportunities. Well, with Steph's back, those opportunities won't be quite the same. You know, and some things will change. So you wanna spend these next 5 games Trying to build that continuity, build familiarity so that when the playoff, play-in rolls around come 2 Wednesdays from now, that we put ourselves in the best possible position to get that second game. There's a lot of talk about my guy, Malify Leon shooting left-handed free throws. And we've known for the last week and a half, 2 weeks that Malify couldn't use his right hand. We've been in practice and he's been doing everything with his left hand. You know, when we do shooting competitions, we do free throws at the end. Like, Draymond, who you pick to call to the free throw line? I'm like, Malifaux. And it's a running joke. But more importantly, there's a lot of respect. You know, we play in the day and age where guys get nicks and knacks and they sit down. And you're talking about a guy who's playing for his life regardless of what his limitations is right now. He's playing for his life and no right hand. He's out there like, yo, I'm gonna play left-handed, you know? And I can respect that. As someone who got it out the mud, as someone who was never gifted in NBA career, as someone who was never, gifted a spot in the NBA due to draft position and all that. I can respect guys who get it out the mud. I can respect guys who willing to fight for their livelihoods. And what Malivai is doing, I respect it. I got a lot of respect for it because he can just shut it down and rightfully so. His wrist is jacked up. He— It makes sense. Except these opportunities don't come around often. And so I hope for young people out there, you understand that when you get your opportunity, you gotta take advantage of it. Regardless of what the circumstances are, you gotta take advantage of it. If Malachi goes and creates a career outta this moment, you know what the story's gonna be? The story's gonna be, but when he had a, essentially a broken right wrist, he continued to play. Continued to grow because he took advantage of his opportunity. And so a lot of respect for Malify and what he's doing. We all sit on the bench laughing about the left-hand free throws because you see him get to the hole and he passed it off 'cause he don't want the free throws. And yet and still he's been in there working every day on the left-hand free throws. So hopefully he can start to get that wrist to heal up some. For his sake, but a lot of respect for him going out there regardless of what the situation is and giving what he can give to this team while we dealing with all the injuries. Before I go around the association, I wanna share a little more detail on my Final Four predictions. So we got Arizona and SCUMM, and we have Illinois and UConn. Now, the UConn and Illinois game is interesting because I think Illinois is the much better team except UConn just wins. And so if you look at the coaches, you know, who got the upper hand, it's clearly Dan Hurley, I think. Brad Underwood's a good coach, but Dan Hurley is elite. I think when I look at the teams, like I said, I think Illinois has the better team, but UConn just know how to win. And you know, I've spoke about this in NBA terms before, about when you just know how to do it, it's just different. And UConn just knows how to do it. And so with that, I don't think the teams are drastically different from a talent standpoint. I would say Illinois is probably a little bit more talented, but I think, um, UConn wins this game by 6, 6-plus points. I wholeheartedly believe that. I think they just know how to do it. I think their physicality could bother Illinois some. I think so. 'cause UConn is extremely physical. And so I got UConn headed back to the NCAA championship on that side of the bracket. And then we head over to the other side of the bracket with Arizona versus the scum bombs that is the University of Michigan. And that, for all intents and purposes, I think is the national championship game. It's unfortunate that they are on the same bracket, the same side of the bracket as the Final Four stands. But I think that's the national championship game. I think those are the two best teams in the field by a long shot. And I think whichever team wins that, I don't think anyone on the other side of the bracket can beat them. And so I think that's the national championship game. When I look at this game, at this team, I think Arizona has the upper hand. Arizona has the better guard play. Cole Peet is athletic enough to guard Jaxel Landenberg on the perimeter. I like that matchup. The big fella, uh, Mara, will be matched up with the big fella, and I don't want to butcher his name, the big European kid from Arizona. He and Morrow will be matched up. That's size on size. And I like the big fella from Arizona more. I think he moves better. I think they put— he'll be in better situations. And I think he has more talent around him. Haven't talked about Braden Burries yet. I just talked about guard play. Braden Burries, I think he's built for the moment. I've watched Braden Burries in big time situations. Obviously not at the level of an— NCAA Final Four. But some guys just got it, and I've watched him in the NCAA tournament, and it was just a carryover from what I watched him in high school. Some guys just get it, and Brayden Burries gets it. And so I think Arizona takes this one. I think Arizona beats Michigan. Obviously, that's also my hope. Um, but I think Arizona takes Michigan, and I think we end up with a UConn versus Arizona final, ultimately with Arizona being the better team. They've been the best team all year in my opinion. And I think Arizona brings home the national title. So that's my Final Four predictions. After the break, we'll go around the association, discuss the Lakers blowout loss, more importantly, Luka's injury, Joe Mazzulla's controversial take, and most importantly, a new Hall of Fame class. We'll be back right after this. You know, the playoff push is heating up and tournament hoops are here, right? There's nothing like the excitement of every bucket, steal, highlight play. But you know what makes it even better? PrizePicks. Seriously, every pick, every win feels that much sweeter. People are amazed at how simple the PrizePicks app is. Just pick more or less on 2 to 6 player stat projections. Whichever sport you pick instantly makes watching the games way more fun. A favorite feature? Early payouts. If your player gets off to a high start, you can cash out before the game even ends. And with stacks, you could pick the same player up to 3 times in a lineup. PrizePicks is available in all 50 states. The deposits are fast, withdrawals are secure, and you can play all your favorite sports. Everything from basketball to esports. Download the PrizePicks app today and use code Draymond to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That's code Draymond to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Lakers get absolutely annihilated by the OKC Thunder. By 43 points. And as much of a story as that could be, maybe should be, the bigger story is Luka Dončić went down with a hamstring injury. And I'm no doctor, I'm actually a basketball player by trade. But when you watch the video, you see him kind of lift up, kind of like you see people lift up when they pop. The A word, as CP would say. And obviously it's his hamstring, but you see him lift up and his leg jolt almost as if his hamstring popped. I'm no doctor, as I said, but I just, it didn't look good. And then his reaction afterwards wasn't like, ah, like his reaction afterwards was like, it's devastating. Yeah. And the reason that reaction looked like it's devastating to me, uh, through Luka's reaction is because— and why I would say that is Luka's a guy who's dealt with hamstring injuries. Uh, if you remember a couple years ago, I think Luka missed maybe 8 or 9 weeks with a hamstring injury after re-aggravating a previous hamstring injury. And so for a guy who's dealt with hamstring injuries, His reaction to it, I didn't love because he knows a hamstring. He knows how these things go. And in that situation, if you've already had these, that one may feel too familiar to the one that had you out for that extended period of time. That's what it looked like to me. That's what I read in that situation. Now, it's not— it's not the end of the world that Luka Dončić hurts his hamstring. Yeah. Um, as that is a recoverable injury. Where the problem lies is if in fact he got that hamstring pretty good, he's probably out for the next month. And I don't know that their team can survive a month headed into the playoffs without Luka Dončić. So if that's the case, then you have to look down the road. And why this is such a big issue for the Lakers and Laker fans. You need to know how this team performs in the playoffs in order to have an accurate read on what your future should be. And what I mean by that is you have Austin Reeves due up for a big, big, big, big, big time payday. You have LeBron James due up for a free agency. Whether he'll stay or go, no one knows. But if you don't get the proper opportunity to see this team in the playoffs, how do you properly judge what the future of this team should look like? When you have to ponder paying Austin Reeves $240 million, you have to ponder what it is that you're gonna agree to with Bron. Was he willing to take what— you have to do all those things. And Quite frankly, I don't know that you can make the best possible decision if you don't see the team in the playoffs, because ultimately this team can win 60 regular season games and go 60-22. If they fizzle out and bomb in the playoffs, ultimately it's all for nothing. Because when you're operating at the level of the Los Angeles Lakers, it's ultimately about winning championships. So if you go 60-22 and lose in the first round, It really don't matter. So yes, they've had a good regular season, but unfortunately, if you're the Lakers, it don't really matter. So you need the opportunity to, to be able to evaluate this team during the playoffs, and I don't think you're going to be able to get a proper evaluation. Now, moving past a little bit past that, you look at Austin Reeves, and this really sucks for Austin Reeves because— Yeah. Think about this. The Lakers will probably end up in the 4 or 5 game. They'll probably end up facing the Houston Rockets. If they face the Houston Rockets, Luka's injury goes— it makes Austin Reeves match up Amman Thompson. That's who will be guarding Austin Reeves. As opposed to maybe Tyree Easton, maybe Reece Sheppard, maybe Jabari Smith. I think Tyree Easton is a very good defender. He's not Draymond Green. And Reece Sheppard's definitely not. And Jabari Smith, who I think has upped his effort on the defensive end since he came into the league, It's not Iman Thompson. Iman Thompson is a special defender. And so if you're Austin Reeves, this sucks because you're about to go into a playoff series and your matchup is gonna be Iman Thompson as opposed to like Reed Shepard or those guys. And it's just, it's a completely different thing. And so if you're Austin Reeves and you going to these playoffs and you got Iman Thompson and it don't go well, Then what does that look like for you? And so this injury could have a large domino effect. And obviously I think Bron is capable of manning possessions and manning the game and like getting everything he want out of a game. Unfortunately, losing Luka Dončić is a lot. And this team hasn't played like that. They've played around Luka, so it changes things. And so I think that this injury is huge and it has a huge domino effect. Hopefully it's not that bad. Hopefully, you know, Luka can be back in a couple weeks. But this, this isn't shaping up well for the Los Angeles Lakers. This is a big, big, big problem. A big problem. And speaking of Luka Dončić, the MVP race, Tim Bontemps of ESPN came out with his MVP straw poll. And I found it very interesting. It played out SGA number 1, Wemby number 2, Joker number 3. Luka at 4 and Draymond Green at 5. And I agree with this. I agree with these rankings. I think SGA is number 1. I think Wemby is number 2. I think Joker rounds out the top 3. I think over the course of the last 2 months, Wemby jumped. Joker, but not quite SGA. I found it interesting that when Wemby spoke out the other day on NBA.com, he jumped to number 1 on the MVP ladder. Yeah. The power of media. Fortunately and unfortunately, SGA has still been doing what he's doing. And like I said last episode, you have to do something to take the MVP from him. And I just don't really think it's been taken. Now, Wemby has put together a strong case and it's something that he'll be able to build up on next year if the results play out like this. Yeah. But I don't think he's done enough to take the MVP from SGA. Now, where this is interesting is how the poll played out. SGA got 88 first place votes with— to Wimby's 8. Now, I didn't think it'd be much of a landslide like that, except for it took Wimby to come out and say, hey, defense is 50% of the game, for people to even start pushing his MVP campaign. Yeah. And so it makes sense that it played out this way. SGA and Wemby being the only two guys that received all 100 votes. Joker received 99 of them and Luka received 97. Jalen Brown, 80, and then there's a big drop off of Kawhi at 15. And so I think it's been pretty obvious of how the race was gonna play out except you know, there's been a little question of who's gonna be number 1. It's clearly Shay. Shay's gonna take home his second MVP in a row, back to back, and rightfully so. Well deserved. Like I said, Wimby's put together a great case, but I thought that 88 to 8 number, that was pretty astonishing. Pretty convincing. And I think it's right. I think Shay— hands down should be the MVP. Speaking of awards, Joe Mazzulla on the Coach of the Year Award said, "I think it's a stupid award. You shouldn't have it. It's more about the players and the work the staff puts in. It's that simple. I don't really wanna be asked or talked about it again." I respect Joe Mazzulla. What I would say to Joe Mazzulla is, brother, this is about building Hall of Fame resumes. And I agree with you, I think coaches don't get enough credit, the other coaches. I think players do play for coaches, but as a player who's played for a very successful coach, I understand how important the coach is. And so it's all right to take a little credit, Joe, and I get it. And I wanna say if and when you get this award, be happy, embrace it, enjoy it, celebrate it, let your players celebrate you. Because the work that Joe Mazzulla's put in, he didn't take over an easy situation. He took over a situation of a team that went to the NBA Finals, had lost, and it was on him to figure out how to win with that group. And he's done it. And so I think well deserved for the work that he's done this year, having his star player out and still being number 2 in the East. Yeah. Putting Draymond Green in a situation where he can show his talents and become an MVP candidate. Like, the work is there. And so what I would say to Joe Mazzulla is like, this is about building Hall of Fame resumes. And embrace it, accept it, because it's well deserved. We got a new Hall of Fame class. Amar'e Stoudemire, Doc Rivers, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne are some of the names. Wanna say congratulations to the Hall of Fame recipients. A lot of people made a lot of Amaree getting in. Stop it. Amaree was an incredible player. Stack got to it. If you ever played against him, you know how much force he played with. Had an incredible career. Job well done, well deserved to all the candidates. Doc, long overdue. Candace Parker, one of the GOATs. Elena Delle Donne, one of the GOATs. So, you know, it's good to see everybody getting their flowers. You know, congrats on the Hall of Fame. And to you all, like we told Dwight Howard, you beat the game. If you're needing that energy boost and also love sweets, there is a new 5-Hour Energy shot called Fruity Rainbow. You know what's underrated? Caffeine that actually tastes fun. I feel like for years we just accepted that energy had to taste fun. But the new Fruity Rainbow shots from 5-Hour Energy completely changed that. These deliver an explosion of fruity flavor with a tasty caffeine kick. And I mean explosion. It tastes like those sweet, colorful rainbow candies you used to love, except this one actually helps you power through your to-do list. Caffeine just got a serious flavor upgrade. And here's the cool part: 5-Hour Energy Shots now come in 17 flavors. 17. So whether you're in a fruity mood or wanna mix it up, there's an option waiting for you. But the fruity rainbow launch? It's bold, nostalgic, and just chaotic in the best way. All that big flavor is packed into a tiny portable 2-ounce bottle. It fits in your pocket, your bag, your car cup holder. No bulky cans, no sugar overload. It's a zero-sugar treat that's totally sweet tooth approved. So you get the fun without the crash. If your energy boost could use a little personality, this is it. Get candy flavor chaos with Fruity Rainbow 5-Hour Energy Shots. Available online at 5hourenergy.com or Amazon. Before we get outta here, Starting to get into Spartan Days as we round out this NCAA tournament. Although my Spartans have moved on to the offseason, we still got one more Spartan Days. And today's Spartan Days memory comes from Theo. Hey, Draymond, the craziest memory I have of you at MSU was playing in the aircraft, the Carrier Classic against University of North Carolina on an aircraft carrier. Can you take us through how you found out about that and what it was like playing outdoors in a once-in-a-lifetime type event? Number one, President Obama was there. Point blank period. Wow. That right there alone was like unbelievable, man. They was telling us like, yo, President Obama's coming. We don't know how he's getting on the boat. Is he coming from submarine? Is he landing on the plane? Is he landing on the boat? How is this happening? Some, I don't know where he came from, but he appeared and it was incredible. And what an experience. I would say, I will say, you know, we had the best athletic director in the business and our athletic director, Mark Hollis. Mark Hollis. Who would just come up with these crazy-ass ideas. And he comes up with this aircraft carrier idea, and Coach Izzo was talking to me about it like a year beforehand, like, man, we're gonna play in the aircraft carrier in San Diego. I'm like, what? I started looking up what an aircraft carrier looked like. I'm like, oh man, this is nuts. How this gonna work? Well, what I will say is the idea was incredible. The experience was fantastic. Once in a lifetime event, like you said. Unfortunately, the basketball wasn't great. Every now and then the wind would take your shot. The decals on the court would get a little slippery. So the actual gameplay, the game itself wasn't that incredible, but the experience and overall was amazing. It was one of my favorite experiences of college. I got to hoop in the cool gray 11s. Quick story about my cool gray 11s. So Coach Izzo wouldn't let us play in Jordans, no chance. Coach Izzo, Obviously Jordan is owned by Nike, but if you know anything about how the operation runs, Nike schools want you to play in Nikes, not Jordans. So Coach Izzo didn't want me to play in Jordans. I had my cool grays ready and I know Coach Izzo, so I didn't put 'em on. I had on my green and white shoes right before the tip-off. I ran in the locker room, sprinted, threw my cool grays on, I run back out and Coach Izzo just looked at me and he didn't stop me. But he said something about it later. But I'm like, "Coach, like I gotta hoop in the cool gray 11s." Like, man, this is what, you know, kicks on the court. Like I need that. Like I gotta, I'm hooping in cool gray 11s. So that's my aircraft carrier experience. It was a fun one. Absolutely incredible experience. Wish we could have won a game, but that's neither here nor there. But what an amazing experience. But the actual basketball itself, by the way, this was 11/11/11. Veterans Day, November 11th, 2011. It was amazing. What an incredible experience. The basketball just wasn't that great. And speaking of my Spartans, apparently Cohen Carr is drawing NFL interest. That's an interesting one. I wanna thank y'all again for tuning into the Draymond Green Show. We got a tough one against the Rockets up next, but we get 30 back and that should be fun. Till next time, deuce. If you're rocking with the Draymond Green Show, be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app. And while you're there, go ahead and drop a 5-star rating and leave a review. I wanna hear what you think. And it would also mean a ton to me if you share it with a friend that you think would enjoy it. Let's keep this thing growing. The Draymond Green Show is presented by Audacy and executive produced in conjunction with The New Media. Our executive producers are Leah Reese Dennis, Danny Friesinger, and Greg Holtzman. Video production and creative design by Curt Courtney, Tim Meekle, Lauren Vieira, and Evan O'Brien. Special thanks to the team at The New Media and the team at Odyssey. Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Hillary Shuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Rose, Colin Gaynor, and Jake Gally. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]