In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green recaps Steph Curry’s return against the Houston Rockets, highlighting Curry’s 29‑point performance and its energizing effect on the Warriors. He reflects on the impact of Curry’s presence on game dynamics and the team’s playoff push. Green then shifts to the NBA Rookie of the Year race, weighing the season‑long case for Khan Kanuppo against Cooper Flagg’s recent scoring surge and Kyle Kuzma’s three‑point record, ultimately favoring Kanuppo while acknowledging Flagg’s momentum. The discussion moves to a marquee big‑man showdown between Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama, noting Jokić’s 40‑point, 13‑assist line and Wembanyama’s 34 points, 18 rebounds, and defensive dominance, and framing the matchup as a revival of the big‑man era. Green critiques the Milwaukee Bucks situation, describing Giannis Antetokounmpo’s public demand for an investigation into his benching, labeling the media’s selective coverage hypocritical. He praises three referees for handling a physical Warriors‑Rockets game without issuing double technicals, emphasizing respect‑based officiating. Additional segments cover Austin Reeves’ oblique strain and a diagnostic error by Dallas doctors, Tim Hardaway Sr.’s anecdote about being passed over by Miami, and the University of North Carolina’s hiring of NBA veteran coach Mike Malone. The episode closes with standard podcast promotion and production credits.
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What up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. On today's show, Steph Curry returned to the court in a major way, and the league is always better when Steph is playing. The Rookie of the Year race, it's gotten a lot more interesting as of late. Coop said, "Hold on, wait up, not too fast, Kyle Knoepel." And Wimby and Joker had an MVP-level matchup this week. All of that stuff happened around the association, but let's get right into it. [MUSIC] Steph returns against the Rockets, 29 points on 11 for 21. Draymond Green, 5 for 10 from 3 in 26 minutes of game action. And if you wanna know the power of Steph Curry, the cups and the chairs were rocking in the seats, it got so loud. And let me tell you, I've been playing at Chase Center the last 2 months. It wasn't quite that loud and it wasn't quite that many people. But it's funny because Steph come back and you see like the regulars back in their seats. It was very interesting. Needless to say, in the words of Jackson Rowe earlier in the season, man, Steph's just blessed. Like, he returns from action, doesn't— the first couple plays you could tell he's a little sped up and a little anxious and giddy. And then he gets one to go and he completely settles in and morphs back into Steph Curry. You know, KD said it last night, man, we had the game in full control, then they put 30 back in the game. You know, it's like you just always have a chance when he's on the court. And I know everybody's been saying, you know, for the last couple months, like, yo, they should just shut Steph down and tank and throw in the towel. But then you see last night and you see why it's always a tough conversation to shut Steph down because regardless of what you may think or feel, anytime Steph Curry's on the floor, you have a chance. Yeah. And you know, from my perspective, it was obviously special to have him back out there on the floor. It just opens up so many things. It makes the game so much easier, opens the floor space and just opens up differently. He draws so much attention. It's beautiful to see. So happy to have him back out there. You know, he came in today feeling great. You know, we practice, he practice, you know, so things are really looking up. And now, you know, we sit here with 4 games left in the season, 4 opportunities to continue to get better and prepare ourselves to try to win 2 play-in games to get that 8th seed in the playoffs. I think, you know, last night was a step in a good direction. We still made a bunch of mistakes, which ultimately cost you the game, but it's a step in the right direction. It's something we could build on. Looks a lot more like our team. Yeah. Obviously when you add 30 back out there. Steph and Seth played together for the first time. This has kind of been loading all season. Steph called them the rehab brothers. You know, but both of those guys have been out quite a bit. Steph missing the last 29 games before last night. S-Dot missing a bulk of this year due to the contract situation, but then also nagging injuries. And they got to play together for the first time in an NBA game last night. It was special to see, to have that type of shooting on the floor. Always great, you know? So I know we'll explore with that more and more, but that was beautiful to see. And highlight for the Curry family. Man, but it was a fun game to play in last night. The back and forth down the stretch was crazy. It's one of those ones where when you in it, you don't really realize what the hell going on. You just know you're trying to make plays. Then you see it after and you like, man, that was a crazy finish. But you know, we made plays down the stretch. They made plays down the stretch. Ultimately they had the ball last and they made the last play. KD got it to Shingun, he was able to finish. But it was a fun game. Fun, physical game. It's always physical and intense when we play against the Rockets dating back to 2015. It's just been that way. And so always look forward to playing against those guys. Would've been great to get the win, but nonetheless can kind of see where we can build and that felt good. Yeah. And then I know everybody spoke about the moment with Jabari Smith and I. Jabari bust my lip, by the way, in the first quarter. But no, man, me and Jabari kind of always get into it every time we play them, but it's always love and respect after. You know, I'm not someone that takes things that happen on the basketball court personal. I actually lose a lot of respect for guys when they take things on the basketball— and there's some things on the basketball court that becomes personal. Yeah. But when guys just mix it up a little bit, as far as basketball goes, I never take that personal. And I respect guys a lot that don't take it personal. And right after the game, you know, Bari and I talk, we embrace, we hug. We actually exchanged jerseys. How about that? Like there is no issues, there's no problem. Also referees get so much scrutiny and I am one that's always at the referees and I will tell you, We had Robert last night, we had Courtney Kirkland last night, and we had Big Kevin Cutler last night. And I wanna send a shout out to those 3 guys. You know, me and Jabari had our words right there. There were no double texts called. I always say double texts do nothing for the game. We had our little moment. Nobody kept pressing on. Nobody kept, oh, trying. And we moved on. The game continued on. Nothing happened. Yeah. That's beautiful refereeing. You know, I think so many, oftentimes referees feel like, "Oh man, I got power. I can give the double tech." Nah. And it's like, you just lose respect. Those guys gain respect. And there was not a single other issue in that game the way they handled that. But you give a guy double tech, you turn him up more, and you think that's the way. No, the way is actually having referees that can have conversations with guys that can, gain respect and they can control the game because they're being respected. And those 3 guys, they controlled the game because they did it with respect. Respect from guys to themselves, respect from them to guys. And it was beautiful. And so I just wanna give a shout out to those guys, man. Referees has a thankless job. They can never do right. Somebody's gonna be mad. But in a situation where they could easily gave out double techs and it meant nothing, They did it. And the game got better and better as it went on. And I think that's a huge part of it. Because what it said was, guys, this a physical game. Be physical. We don't care. Mix it up a little bit. We don't care. Just keep it clean. And even in that moment where it was a little testy, everybody kept it clean. And they kept it clean. So shout out to those 3 officials, man. I thought that was a beautiful moment in the game and a beautiful moment that the NBA needs. Coming up next after the break, I'll go around the association, discuss the intense battle for Rookie of the Year. Joker and Wemby had a heavyweight fight the other night. And Giannis' latest spicy comments are back right after this. As promised, now we'll go around the association. And first up, we gotta talk Rookie of the Year. Because I think over the last 2 months, it's kind of been decided that Khan Kanup was the Rookie of the Year. And Cooper Flagg over the last couple days said, hold on now, I got something to say. Here's a 50 ball for you guys. Hey, if y'all thought I was playing, here's a 45 piece for you guys in back-to-back games. Most 40-point games by a teenager with 4. One of 3 players to record 1,000 points, 300 rebounds, 200 assists in his first 50 career games. Only next to Luka Dončić and Michael Jordan. But Kyle Kuzma has a case too. Broke the Hornets' single-season 3-point record with 260, and counting. Broke the NBA 3-point record with 206. He broke that a year ago. Fastest to 100 and 200 career 3s in NBA history. Youngest player to make 250 3s in a single season at 20. 20. And he's the only player 22 or younger in NBA history to hit 250 threes in the season. Their team is in the playoffs, and he's been their most consistent player all year. That has to count for something. So as beautiful as the last couple games have been, uh, as special as they've been for Cooper Flagg, you know, his team is done in 2 days. Yeah. I just don't know that with, with Khan's body of work all year, that you can justify Khan Kanuppo not getting Rookie of the Year. But I respect how Cooper's making it a discussion down the stretch. Now that's what you wanna see from young guys. They hungry, they competing for something. Gotta respect that. So nonetheless, I still think Khan Kanuppo is Rookie of the Year, but Coop is making it interesting down the stretch for sure. And staying in the lane of NBA awards, we had a heavyweight bout. Victor Wembanyama and Joker a couple days ago. And Joker finished with 40, 13 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks. Victor finished with 34 points on 8 for 17 shooting, 18 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocks. Joker was 13 for 25. Both had incredible games. Ultimately Joker getting the upper hand and winning. Getting the Denver Nuggets to win in overtime. And I saw someone say, down the stretch, if you lose to a guy that's in the MVP race, you can't win. And Vic lost. And although I think Vic has a strong case for MVP, love what he's doing on that side, on the defensive side of the ball, he's the best defensive player in the NBA. And then offensively, he's great. You know, and so, I just, and they're number 2 seed in the West. They weren't expected to be near the top 2 seeds in the West. And due to his growth and other young guys' growth, they're right there. And I think it's a beautiful thing to watch. But that heavyweight bout, like what a treat for the league. You know, in a day and age where big man has died, these guys revitalizing the big man crusade. It's a beautiful thing to watch. Giannis welcomes an investigation to the Bucks about him being held out. He said, I've never seen a case of a player of my caliber that's saying it publicly, I wanna fucking play. You know what I'm saying? I don't think I've seen this. So if there's to be an investigation, great, there should be. I don't know until we figure something out. Sounds like Giannis wants to play. I love how Giannis treats the Milwaukee Bucks organization. He treat them like, screw y'all, and I don't care what y'all got to say. Meanwhile, they've given all his brothers an opportunity to play NBA basketball. It's the craziest thing I've seen. He's on the sideline cheering and happy for his brothers while meanwhile sitting in the back with two fingers in the air telling the Milwaukee Bucks to get the hell out of his face. And I'm gonna get y'all investigated. I don't know. I think this thing could be headed for a nasty breakup if it don't happen soon. Like it's just getting worse and worse by the day. Day. You have your franchise player kind of getting your organization investigated and saying, hey, by the way, y'all go look. Like, this doesn't— is not going to end well. It's funny how all the people want interviews and stuff with Giannis and y'all don't say nothing. But y'all act like Jonathan Kuminga having a problem with his team was the worst thing the NBA has ever seen. I'm so tired of all you hypocrites. I'm so tired of all you hypocrites. I'm so tired of it. Everybody around y'all, y'all just hypocrites. We act like Jonathan Kuminga being disgruntled with the Golden State Warriors was the biggest deal in the world. Meanwhile, we got Giannis Antetokounmpo calling for an investigation and we selectively speak on it. Y'all some interesting folks out there, media people. Austin Reeves is out for the remainder of the season with a grade 2 oblique strain. "Dallas doctors initially scanned the wrong area, making Lakers think he wasn't hurt or less hurt." JJ Redick said, "I don't know where the chain of command lies with Dallas Imaging, but they scanned the wrong area. Not on our end, we made it explicit what was supposed to be scanned, but they scanned the wrong area." This saves Austin Reeves, tell you that. 'Cause Austin Reeves was gonna have to go out in them playoffs with a great, great, great wing defender guarding him with no Luka Dončić. —and it can, you know, it could have affected his money a bit. So now y'all just got to go off the body of work that you got. And Austin Reeves about to get that bag, you know. So I don't think the Lakers was winning the championship anyway, if you ask me. So this ain't all bad for Austin Reeves. Tim Hardaway Sr. told the Heat to draft me in 2012, but was told I was too out of shape and they passed. That's interesting. You know, but it all worked out for the better. If I'm quite honest with you, I don't think a place like Miami is the place for me. You know, I've heard how they do things down there and I respect how they do things. And I respect the way they go about things. I personally don't just think that's a situation or a place where I would've fit in well at. And to play with the Big Three would've been cool except I only would've played with them for, a year and a half, 2 years, and that would've ended and then what? So thank God it happened the way it did and I didn't end up in Miami. Also not sure how I would've handled living in Miami as a rookie. And I'm for damn sure not sure how I would've handled Pat Riley trying to test my body fat during that time. So it all worked out for the better. And I appreciate you OG Tim Hardaway, and they should hire you as a scout. Thank you. 'cause you knew what you was talking about. But thank God they didn't draft me. University of North Carolina hires Coach Mike Malone as the new head coach for the basketball program. This is the second time UNC has hired a pro coach to coach one of their program and as many hires between their basketball and football program. And quite honestly, Mike Malone may actually fit it. Great NBA coach, by the way. I love Coach Mo. But he may actually fit college better than he did NBA. He's a great NBA coach that's been in the NBA his whole life. His father, Brendan Malone, was a coach in the NBA. And you know, I love this for Coach Mo. I know Harrison Barnes probably loved this for Coach Malone too. You know, Harrison was on the team my rookie year here. Coach Mo was our coach. So I know he's loving that hire, but— Yeah. You know, I think Coach Malone will do well. I think, you know, his way will translate to the college way extremely well. I would've loved to see UNC take a look at one of their own, like a Jerry Stackhouse, but Coach Malone, you get a hire like that, gotta appreciate it, you know? So we'll see. Can Coach Mo get North Carolina back to prominence? They've been trash. We shall see. I wanna thank you all again for tuning into the Draymond Green Show. We got the Kings up next and a huge guest on the next episode dropping Thursday. Until next time, deuces. 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. 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 Galley.
