Lessons from a leader named Draymond

There’s a fearless quality in basketball players. ``Someone  ventured long ago, it’s a sport where you play without a place to hide,  in a dugout, under a helmet, behind pads.

You’re exposed. Your failures, turnovers, missed assignments are there for anyone to see.

So basketball players are talkers, communicators.

There’s an honesty in the sport. Either the ball went in or it didn’t, and you don’t require a lot of explanation.

That’s why listening to Draymond Green is as enjoyable as watching him play.

Tuesday, some 48 hours before Green and the    

Warriors begin the NBA finals against the Boston Celtics, an organization worthy of many a conversation,

Green was expansive. And why not? The man has his own podcast.

He’s a communicator. A critic. A collaborator.

And to use another word that begins with “C,” a coach on the floor.  Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the Splash Brothers, the scorers (in time Jordan Poole may join the brotherhood).

Draymond Green is the organizer, and of course, the defender. He’s also the second-round pick in a league dominated by first-rounders. Yes, it has an effect on his psyche.

And style.

Seven years since the Dubs began their run, and Green, as we all do, thought about the movement of time. Someone mentioned viewing a photo of that 2015 team.

  “Yeah, you like my hair?”  asked Green. He’s lost some of it in the intervening years, but he hasn’t lost any intensity. Or aside from the period with Covid-19 or the injuries to Klay Thompson, hasn’t lost many games.

Winning begets winning. So even in those difficult times with

Curry and Klay injured, there was a platform. “That is a help for the younger guys, said Green. “Once you’ve been a champion you never quit, because you know what it takes. Some guys on losers stop trying. We never did.

  “From the very beginning we could look across the boards and see Steph and Klay and Andre (Iguodala) and the way they worked. It was a lesson I want our young players to learn.”

 This led to the issue of Warriors culture.

Does it exist? And if so how is it defined?

“”It’s our way of doing things,” said Green. “Of working and playing hard. Of helping each other. Of doing everything the best way.”

“Once the NBA’s defensive player of the year, Green, this season missing a block of games because he was hurt, was selected only to NBA’s defensive second team.’

  “I consider that an insult,” he insisted. “You miss games and they (the selectors) hold it against you.  When I played I was no different than I’ve always been.”

 If the Warriors are not, it doesn’t matter. They and Draymond Green are exactly where they want to be, about to play for the championship of basketball.