In this inaugural episode of the Draymond Green Show, Draymond Green breaks down Game 4 of the Knicks‑76ers playoff series, which the Knicks won 97‑92 to take a 3‑1 lead. He reflects on his earlier criticism of Jalen Brunson’s ball‑dominance, ultimately conceding respect for Brunson’s 47‑point, 10‑assist performance but questioning whether Brunson can be the primary option that carries a team to a championship. Green critiques the 76ers’ offensive scheme that relies on Joel Embiid playing a drop‑coverage role in the pick‑and‑roll, arguing that it relieves pressure on Brunson and limits defensive help. He calls for the Sixers to adjust by moving Embiid up the floor, increasing role‑player scoring, and improving defensive help to prevent Brunson from exploiting the drop. Green maintains that despite the series looking bleak, Embiid’s elite talent still gives Philadelphia a chance to turn things around. The segment mixes personal anecdotes, tactical analysis, and speculative outlook on the series.
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Welcome to the brand new Draymond Green Show YouTube channel. Hit subscribe so you don't miss out on any of our content. The Knicks beat the 76ers 97 to 92 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. And the first question is, do I personally need to apologize to Jalen Brunson for saying he shouldn't dominate the ball? My answer's no. And here's why. Number one, some things that work in the first round, cool. They work in the first round, they won't work moving forward. It's funny because I had a conversation with a friend of mine last week, Benny Fowler. And I was talking to him actually about Jalen Brunson and I was watching the Knicks and I was like, man, I called him and I said, yo, tell me if I'm tripping. Like Jalen Brunson is really good and I feel like I have to believe how good he is. And although I've always believed how good he is, playing at the level that he be playing at is a different level than I always thought. I think most people thought, I mean, even when he signed for $100 million with the Knicks, everybody said that was a crazy deal and he was overpaid. So we are not gonna act like it's just me. However, I called my boy and I'm like, man, I don't really I don't really know if I'm supposed to believe, like, Jalen Brunson, like, because I know better, Beans. Like, I know better. Like, I know that this gets to a certain level and it stops. Like, he can only do this up to a certain point being your number one option. But you look at him competing, he's smart and he gonna get smaller guards. And like, I kind of was in this role of like arguing for him, arguing against him, arguing for him, arguing against him. And that's how I feel about it. But, and so I'll say this, he does have my respect. He's always had my respect. That's not up for debate. What is up for debate is can he carry a team to the promised land? By the way, the conference finals to me is not the promised land. We saw Trae Young go to the conference finals against these very New York Knicks. Well, dealing with the New York Knicks along the way. To get to the conference final and hasn't been back since. And so the conference finals is not the holy grail to me. So although that's a huge step for him to take him to the conference finals, I would take my hat, tip my hat to him, respect. But that's not like the promised land to me, but I'll give him that. And so I went through this whole thing with my boy and I'm like, I don't know, like— I don't know. 47 points, 10 assists, 1 turnover, 18 for 34 from the field. The one thing that was glaringly noticeable to me when I was watching the game was that Philly plays with Joel in the drop. And so what they did was just kept putting Joel in the pick and roll and Jalen Brunson got whatever he wanted because he was in the drop. At some point you gotta move up the floor, build in the help, and make those other guys beat you. Now they've shown that they could beat you, but are you gonna let Jalen Brunson get 47, 10 assists, and only 1 turnover? The only reason, the reason he only got 1 turnover is because that drop. There's no pressure on him. He coming off and Jalen Brunson, when he come off the screen and there's nobody there, he's not even now looking at the guy in the drop no more. He now starts back paying attention to his guy. Which is let me lock him in back here so he can't get back to the front, square the ball up. Now he's locked in behind the play and he gets whatever he want. Floater, middie, that's where he live. Not even at the 3, he lives in those ranges. And so of course he gonna go off of there. But what happens if you bring the guy up to the level of the screen? They gotta do something else though. Like Philly, you can't just stay in the drop just because it's Joel. How do you win like that? Gotta do something else. Like, and then also you got Joel and B, Tyrese Maxey. You gotta score more than 92 points because if you hold a team to 97, see, here's the thing. The game plan in theory actually worked. You let Jalen Brunson get his 47, They scored 97 points. So number one, you have to score more points. 92 points, they scored 97. You should win that game in the NBA. So in theory, Jalen dominating the ball actually doesn't work because they only scored 97 points doing it. But you gotta give him his credit because it worked to get a win. Yeah. But if a team scored 97 and you got the MVP of the NBA on your team at home where role players should be shooting better and making hustle play and you only get 92 points, that's why you lose. So the conundrum that I've been kind of caught in dealing with on Jalen Brunson, jury's still out. And again, I got nothing but love and respect for Jalen Brunson and love his game and respect his game. But I'm talking about to go to the promised land. Can he be your best player to go to the promised land? I don't know. But damn, is he balling. He doing it. Gotta give him his credit. And— Draymond Green. When you look at the series, I personally think the series can still be turned around because I think Joel Embiid is that good. But Joel Embiid gotta go be that good. Like when you got the best player in the series, and right now Jalen Brunson is looking like the best player in the series, but I'm not doing that. Joel Embiid's the best player in the series. When you got the best player in the series, you always have a chance. And so, I still think they have a chance because Joel can do that. But it's looking like it's over and they're ready to quit. We'll see. Knicks going back home. You see the way they invaded Wells Fargo yesterday? Oh, they going back home. Shut the streets of New York City down if they win this game 5, 'cause it's a wrap. We shall see.
