Subscribe
Follow Us
Draymond Green is coming off five straight runs to the NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors, yet a new spark of energy lives within him as he approaches a very different 2019-20 season. No longer one of many veteran players in a championship-laden team, Green is now more vital than ever in the Warriors' playoff chances, now in charge of leading a young roster full of new faces — a challenge he's taken up very willingly.
“You can look at it as the roster has been turned over and you have to figure it out. Or you look at it from the standpoint that it’s been five years with the same band,” Green told Mark Medina of USA TODAY Sports. “Sometimes the band has been on tour for so long and then it gets harder. You can look at it from that standpoint of there’s lots of new energy and new hunger. That is needed, so that’s the way I see it.”
In the past, the 29-year-old has focused on his individual performance for the betterment of the team, but he's taking a different approach this time around — putting his focus on the team first and jelling with his new teammates before he can look at potential awards.
The Warriors can no longer sleepwalk their way to the playoffs, as every win will count in a Western Conference that is more competitive than years past.
“There’s no doubt I will have a great year,” said Green, who could be flirting with triple-doubles now that the ball will see his hands more often. “But my focus every day coming into the season can’t be on Defensive Player of the Year. It can’t be this or that. It has to be bringing this team together and making this work. Then if I bring this team together and make this work, all of those things will take care of themselves.”
Green will have the task of leading by example as well as putting in the time to familiarize a young core with the championship habits he and other veterans like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have grown used to for the vast part of this decade.
