When Draymond Green found out that his girlfriend Jelissa Hardy had gone into labor on Thursday morning, he sent a text message to head coach Steve Kerr just as fast as he was on a flight home.
The Golden State Warriors‘ forward was excused from their game against the Brooklyn Nets that night to be with family as his son was on the way. Unfortunately for him, he did not make in time for the delivery and only had his first glimpse of Draymond Jr. over FaceTime.
The elder Green got so excited inside the plane that the stewardess had to approach him to ask if everything was alright. He quickly explained himself to the flight attendant to let her know about the situation.
“I’m sorry. There’s kind of a lot going on right here.”
When he arrived at the hospital, he was full of emotion and was overjoyed seeing his new born child. The 26-year-old Michigan State product spent the entire day with his family before heading back later that day to re-join his team. Green arrived just in time for the second game of their back-to-back set against the Detroit Pistons.
As much as he would like to stay home and have quality time with his loved ones, Green was back at work within days. He explained why he opted not to be excused, to get back and help his team during their three-game road trip.
“The way I look at it, right off the top of my head, there’s maybe six other guys on this team with a kid. It’s one thing if she’s still in labor and I’m at home, but the baby’s here now, so I think it’s pretty selfish of me to stay at home and miss another game when you have guys away from their kids as well.”
Warriors fans and team officials should take this as a good sign, Green is showing a great deal of professionalism and dedication to his job. If he continues to exhibit his unselfish ways and solid play this season, the Warriors are destined for yet another deep playoff run.
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