- This is like an app where you can take a pic, but it goes
away.
- Snapchat. Y'all are foul.
[Both laughing]
- All right, Draymond Green. Welcome into "Just Playin'"
where we are gonna play some games.
We're gonna see how good you are as we play "Heads Up!"
Have you played before?
- Um, I've played "Heads Up!" before.
You know, like most things, I think I'm pretty good.
- We're gonna start out easy and just do some
basketball words.
- Um, Marv Albert is an...
- Commentator. Announcer.
- Announcer. Uh, Whitney Houston's husband.
No, no, no.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Indiana head coach
that threw the chair.
- Bobby Knight? [Both laughing]
- Uh, when it's down the stretch it's called what?
So it's what of day?
It's that [pause] of day.
- Time?
- OK, and then so now what's in front of time
when it's down to the stretch?
- Shot clock?
- No, no something
- Oh, crunch time. - time. Yes. - Crunch time.
- Uh, the beard.
- James Harden.
- Roy Williams just retired from there.
- North Carolina Tar Heels.
- Yes.
When you shoot it off the glass, that's called a what?
- Bank shot.
- Yes.
- Ah, that's it.
That's time.
- I literally thought I was gonna lose it when you
said Whitney Houton's husband. [Both laughing]
This was my first year as an NBA
voter. For my vote for Defensive Player of the Year—
you know you're my guy.
I voted Rudy [Gobert] one,
Ben Simmons two and
Bam Adebayo three.
Why was I wrong in not including
you?
- Oh, well, clearly you're analyzing the game
like some of these people.
- [Laughing]
- Why were you wrong? Because you didn't name, not one person,
that can control the game from the defensive
side of the floor.
- You don't think that Rudy Gobert does that?
- I think what he does on the defensive side of the ball
is incredible. I think the way he protects
the rim is incredible.
Defense is more than just protecting the rim.
Y'all don't judge defense the same way y'all judge offense.
There is no offensive situation - That's true. - where you don't want Steph
Curry on the floor. There's no offensive situation where
you don't want James Harden on the floor.
There's no offensive situation where you don't want
LeBron James on the floor.
Well, guess what? There's no defensive situation where you
don't want me on the floor.
Everybody, look. Oh, man.
This guy led the league in steals.
That guy led the league in blocks. But is there a situation you can put that guy
in and make him uncomfortable? For most guys, yes.
You can't put me in a situation on defense and make me
uncomfortable.
- So we played the normal "Heads Up!" But we have scoured
the internet. We've scoured your Instagram, your Twitter,
all these things and made some Draymond custom packs.
- OK.
- So are you ready for those?
- I gotta know my own life.
All right.
- I'll give clues first.
Close your eyes.
Oh, the Pittsburgh football team.
- Steelers.
- Yep.
The "blank" brothers. They're your teammates,
- The "blank" brothers...the Splash Brothers!
- Yes, yes. Um, this
is like when you do something funny and
we make it a picture on the internet, it's called a—?
- A meme.
- Yes.
This is what you have. You put 'em on your finger.
You champ. You have this on your fingers.
- Rings.
- Yes.
- Big rings.
OK, you get these when you want your toes to look good.
- Pedicure.
- Yep.
- I need one bad.
You are on this. You were just on it last night after the
game.
- TNT.
- Yes. NBA on TNT. Yes.
- Inside the NBA.
- Yep. Oh.
When you win, the whole city comes out for the—?
- Parade.
- Yeah! OK, we did, we did well. We did well.
OK, if you had to tell me your top five players
under 25, who would you say?
- Luka. Jayson Tatum for sure.
Zion.
- Of course Devin Booker. Can't forget Devin Booker.
- Book, for sure.
- Yeah.
Luka, Jayson Tatum, Zion, Book.
And you gotta be hatin' if
you, if you can't put Trae Young in that category right now.
- He's taken on this kind of villain persona, as everybody
continues to say. I think that for some people,
you are the villain, right?
For them and their cities, for their teams.
What has it been like for you to see Trae kind of
encapsulate that personality?
And what advice would you have for him
about playing that role?
- Not only has he taken on that role, but
he's producing. You know, he walking off the court:
I see y'all in the A.
Like, he talking big boy stuff.
I love that. You know. To see him talking
it, like, and he walking it.
As far as him taking on that villain role, like,
enjoy it. It's a beautiful thing.
But know it, you know, it comes with a lot of shit.
- Tell me what it comes with.
- A lot of hate. A lot of responsibility.
Because, I mean, shame on the man that go
talking and can't walk it.
When you have a bad game and you're not the villain?
Ahh, he had a bad game. All right, whatever. Move to the next.
But when you have a bad game and you the villain and
everybody wanna shit on you?
But you gotta block that noise out.
But at the same time as you blocking it out, you're also reading it
because you need it as fuel, like, you need
to prove them wrong.
- What percentage of guys in the league that are the villains
do you think decided to be the villain?
And what percentage of those guys were forced to
be the villain?
- Like Patrick Beverley decided to be a villain.
- Like, in fairness to him,
he probably wouldn't be in the NBA if he didn't
decide that. Not because he's not a good player,
but that's how he made his name.
A guy like Trae has decided to be the villain,
which is cool cuz you taking on that. - Yeah. - And that may
motivate you, you know. And there are times
in your career where that changes as well.
You know, like when KD came to the Warriors,
he got thrown into being a villain
because everybody's mad that he came to the Warriors.
So all of a sudden, everybody hates him. Now he's this.
He's that. He's a coward. All the blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah. You're thrown into that because
of a decision you decide to make with your life.
- All right. Close your eyes, Draymond. This is like an app
where you can take a pic, but it goes away.
- Snapchat.
- Yep.
- Y'all are foul. [Both laughing]
Oh, that's crazy.
They said I gave Steven Adams a what?
Like if you punch
somebody below the belt in boxing.
- Like a groin hit?
- If it's not high, it's what?
- Low. Oh, low blow.
- I like to ride the bike.
It is a part of Equinox.
- Oh, um, Peloton.
- What's the proper word for a bike?
- Uh, cycle?
- SoulCycle!
- You SoulCycle, Draymond?
- I used to SoulCycle all the time. I Peloton a lot now,
though.
- You know, we have to talk about this recent fan
aggression at games.
I know it's easy to say, you know, what you would do if you
were in these situations when you aren't actually in the
situation specifically.
But do you think it would ever get to the point for you
where you would confront a fan?
- I'm already judged a little harder in this league on
things, so I try to stay as far away as I can.
But, you know, when you got somebody throwing stuff on you,
throwing stuff right in your face, like, how can
you not say somethin'?
You know we've had these complaints to the league for years,
to the league for years, because no one has seen it.
Nothing's been done,
which is why it's escalated to where it is today,
because everybody's been protected, except the players.
You know, somebody can leave their house and say, “I'mma
go talk shit to Draymond and say everything
I wanna say to him, because if he say something back,
he loses money.”
So, you know, they say, “Oh, such and such guy, the fan
got arrested.” Well, that simply means he was handcuffed
and taken out the building.
Everybody and their mom think they can play basketball
or think they know basketball. - Mmhmm.
- And I'm just always like, if these people came and sat at
the table with me and talked basketball, they’d think
they was talking to Elon Musk about space.
- [Laughing] Yes.
- Like, like, I study this every day of my life.
I study basketball.
You can't possibly think you can just come to a game one
day a week or twice a week and know what I know about this.
- Answer these questions as quickly as you can.
You ready?
- All right. Let's do it.
- OK.
Fill in the blank.
Draymond Green is—
- A champion. - Mmm.
First pair of sneakers?
- The first pair of sneakers I remember,
I think I was in the first grade when I really cared.
The Gloves came out.
I couldn't get ‘em, so I had, like, these—like, my
brother got ‘em. I got in trouble at school, so I had these
terrible, like, Nike knockoff shoes.
And I remember that pair of sneakers because it was just
the most traumatizing pair of sneakers in my life.
- [Laughing] OK. Childhood crush?
- Halle Berry.
- Great choice.
- Oh, and Chilli from TLC.
I loved Chilli.
- Yes, love Chilli.
- She was incredible to me.
- Biggest career W?
- Game 6, 2015, at Cleveland.
- Your biggest L?
- The 2016 NBA Finals.
- Biggest inspiration?
- My biggest inspiration now is my children.
- Advice to your rookie self?
- Do it exactly the way you did it.
- I love that. Do it exactly the way you did it. Do not
change a thing.
- Absolutely not.
- Well, perfect. Well, thank you so much for coming
on “Just Playin’,” Draymond Green, Defensive Player of
the Year. I appreciate it.
- Thank you. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
- [Laughing]
- Get your vote right next year.
I will make sure you do.