Draymond Green
Teams
Golden State Warriors - 2012-current
Playoffs
Appearances - 7 (2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019)
Conference Finals - 5 (2015,2016,2017,2018,2019)
NBA Finals - 5 (2015,2016,2017,2018,2019)
Championships - 3 (2015,2017,2018)
Awards and Honors
All-NBA Second Team - 1 (2016)
All-NBA Third Team - 1 (2017)
Defensive Player of the Year - 1 (2017)
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Assists Per Game - #99
League Leads
Total Steals (#2-2017, #3-2021)
Steals Per Game (#1-2017, #4-2021)
Assists Per Game (#4-2021)
Draymond Green is the first of 16 active players to appear in this countdown, and the only one of those 16 who graduated from college before joining the NBA, earning a degree in communications after being named the Big Ten Player of the Year in his senior season at Michigan State in 2012. He was then selected in the second round of the draft by Golden State at #35 overall.
Green played sparingly as a rookie, averaging less than 3 points per game, and saw that gradually increase in his second season, but he really started to break through in season #3, when he was named the team's starting power forward and averaged 11.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, finishing as runner-up for both the Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player awards. In that season's playoffs, he recorded a triple-double in the championship-clinching Game 6, becoming the 6th player ever to do that, joining LeBron, Bird, Magic, Duncan, and James Worthy.
He had his best overall season in 2015-16, the season in which his Warriors set a new record for wins in a season with 73, by averaging 14 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists while shooting 49% from the field, by far his career high. In the playoffs, the Warriors were moments from going up 3-1 in the NBA Finals when Green was called for a flagrant foul that resulted in his suspension for the next game. The game he missed may have swung the momentum of the series, though Green cannot be blamed for the series loss, as he put up 32 points and 15 rebounds in the team's game 7 loss.
The next season Green recorded a very interesting first when he became the first player ever to record a triple-double in a game without scoring at least 10 points. He had 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 steals in a February game against Memphis to set the mark. He finished the season leading the league in steals per game and won the Defensive Player of the Year award, while also playing a major role in earning the second championship of his career.
The following season saw Green become the Warriors' all-time leader in triple-doubles when he recorded his 21st in January, a total that has since increased to 30, and once again the season ended with Green and Warriors hoisting the championship trophy. In 2018-19, he struggled with injuries during the season, failing to record a triple-double for the first time since 2013, but he had 6 in the playoffs, tying Magic Johnson for the all-time record in a single postseason, though it ended in a loss to Toronto in the team's 5th straight trip to the final round.
Green's numbers look like they have dipped in recent seasons, but if you look a little closer, he's still making major contributions without scoring as much. In fact, last season he averaged 7.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 8.9 assists, which shows that he does a little bit of everything well. His assist number is particularly interesting, because he finished #4 in the league in that stat, despite being Golden State's starting power forward, a position not generally known for generating big assist totals.
In addition to all that, Green also won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics and is on the team currently competing in the 2021 Olympics. His scoring average is lower than most of the other players on this list, but he has the kind of all-around game that few players in this range of the countdown possess. He's been a big contributor to 5 NBA Finalists and 3 champions, and he still has many years ahead of him to try to climb this list of the greatest players of all time.
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