Golden State Warriors big man Draymond Green was handed his first DNP-rest of the season recently against the Chicago Bulls. Despite being without both Green and Kevin Durant in the lineup, the Warriors still smashed the Bulls, 143-94.
It figures to be the ongoing plan for the Warriors moving forward to periodically rest the reigning Defensive Player of the Year at times during the year.
Green isn’t a big fan of the decision, though, as he revealed how he regrets agreeing with Warriors coach Steve Kerr on the plan in the first place.
“You know how somebody asks you to do something, and it's like ‘Oh yeah, I'll do it.' And they they come around and you think ‘Why did I agree to do that?'… [Coach Steve Kerr] came to me about two weeks ago and was like “Yeah, we're probably going to rest you at home coming off that trip against the Bulls,” and I'm like ‘Alright, cool. No big deal.' And it kind of gets to Friday morning like ‘Hey, it's that game. You remember that rest?' And I'm like, ‘Yeah, I want to play, though.' ‘Like yeah, I'm not going to play you.' I'm like ‘No, I want to play,' he said ‘but I really don't want to play you so you're not going to play.'”
Draymond Green on his recent, unwanted rest and playing with his son in the locker room during the game pic.twitter.com/Y3nBMZbRxx
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 27, 2017
To Green’s credit, he does realize that there’s a bigger picture Kerr is looking at, which is why he’s going with the planned rest route.
Green acknowledges that it’s in the team’s best interest to keep him as fresh and as healthy as possible throughout the year, so he’s keeping a relatively reserved stance on the whole rest subject despite his obvious desire to keep playing. On the bright side, at least he gets to spend a bit more time with his son while he's not on the court.
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