Points, assists, blocks, personal fouls... In the NBA there is also a stat called WPM (words per minute), and it refers to what the players speak during a game. Season after season, the undisputed winner is Draymond Green, the power forward for the Golden State Warriors. He talks with his teammates, with the public, with the rivals, with the referees and with himself.
The “talkative warrior”, winner of three NBA rings and two Olympic golds, four times all star, has been a constant in the Warriors' lineup for a decade, when he was selected in the second round of the draft. He has lived through the ups and downs of the team, its five consecutive finals between 2014 and 2019, Kevin Durant's flight to the Nets, the injuries to Curry and Thompson (who has been away from the courts for 941 days), the fifty losses during the 2019-20 season. And now, tomorrow's return to the top, in a classic matchup against Jayson Tatum's Celtics.
Green, 32, is the emotional leader of the San Francisco team with his harangues, his angry outbursts, his speeches in the locker room, his support for young players ... and the constant complaints to the referees, which have earned him 131 technical fouls (he is among the twenty most punished players in history, along with Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Denis Rodman, Dirk Nowitzky, Russell Westbrook, Dwight Howard, Shaquille O'Neal and Kevin Garnett among others). Sometimes his bad temper makes the team react, other times it costs him dearly, like when he was suspended for the deciding game of the 2019 finals, which the Raptors won 4-2.
Number 23 says that over time his character has softened, and instead of calling the referees useless or directly insulting them, he exchanges impressions with them and explains what mistakes they have made (“we are all human”). But some don't get it that way, and, with his aggressive style, he always seems on the brink of going to the bench, whether it's for two technicals or six personals.
A native of Saginaw, his dream was always to play for Michigan State University, and Brown and Jayson Tatum, and he made it come true. But he wasn't a star from the get-go, and in his first two seasons, as a rookie and a freshman, he barely got any minutes. From slow cooking, his development on a sporting and personal level had a lot to do with the patience that coach Tom Izzo dedicated to him, with whom he still has a very close relationship and whom he calls for advice. Like now. What to do to stop Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, possibly the most explosive tandem in the NBA?
At 1.98 m tall and 104 kilos, a weight that is difficult for him to maintain, Draymond is not especially big for the position of power forward, but he is a complete player, an excellent defender and rebounder, who passes well, enters the basket, reserves his shots of three for strategic moments and is capable of spectacular blocks. He enjoys a $100 million contract with the Warriors that expires next year, and he would like to finish his career with his longtime team, helping to hand over to Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins.
Many called the Warriors finished when they lost the 2019 Finals. And just three years later, there they are again. It's something Green reminds opponents (and umpires) after he's dunked or blocked, or hit a 3-pointer. Sweetly, without rancor, with all affection. His favorite sport, by the way, is not basketball but ice hockey. Because of the brutal fights...
