Former NBA player Leandro Barbosa shared some juicy behind-the-scenes details about Draymond Green during his stint with the Golden State Warriors. According to Barbosa, a young Green was already a talkative chap.
Barbosa appeared on the latest episode of Runnin' Plays Podcast where he shared how Green was like during his early years. Back then, Green didn't have the mantle yet as the leader of the Dubs. But because of Green's outspoken persona, he and Barbosa encountered some ‘issues' on the court.
“All the time, all the time,” Barbosa said about Draymond's talking, per Grant Liffmann of NBC Sports via Yahoo.
“But a little less. Because I was the vet, and after me it was Shaun (Livingston), and Iggy (Andre Iguodala), so he would talk, but he knew when he should be quiet. But now he's really a talker, he's been talking a lot like he's always been.”
“We had a couple issues on the court sometimes,” Barbosa explained, “and the next thing you see is we were hugging each other. We are family, it happens.”
Barbosa also spoke about Warriors' sharpshooting star Klay Thompson. The Brazilian was well aware of Thompson's shooting prowess. And as a vet, his job was to instill that confidence in him. And that's exactly what he did.
“You just got to understand how Draymond is, so he does not get in your mind and you don't get to play. He did that a lot of times when I was here with Klay, and I used to tell Klay ‘keep shooting, don't worry about him, you're a shooter, you're here to catch and shoot, so keep doing it. Don't worry what he tells you, or what he's talking to you, just play the game'.”
It's an interesting little tidbit from Barbosa, who was an intrinsic part of the Warriors' 2015 NBA title. There's no question that he played key role in the development of both Green and Thompson.
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