Draymond Green has taken his public lashing.
The Golden State Warriors multi-time world champion is fresh off a five-game suspension for putting Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert in a headlock while trying to defend his teammate Klay Thompson. The move was so effective that it would have made UFC head honcho Dana White consider signing him for a cage match.
That was a joke.
Then he received an indefinite suspension, which ended up as 12 games, after smacking Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the face during a game in December, whether intentional or unintentional. The angry Black man trope was officially applied, and old clips of him receiving counseling from Deepak Chopra emerged. The fervor was high for him to address perceived anger management issues, and he complied with what the NBA ordered him to do to return to the hardwood.
Instead, he became the most hated player in basketball for not only continuing his old-school NBA rough-housing ways but for not being sorry enough for it. Public punishment has now trickled into the global stage as Green will not be part of Team USA during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“[Green’s] contributions have been significant, and he is a real part of the legacy of this organization for his excellence,” USA Basketball Men’s National Team managing director Grant Hill said on a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday per ESPN. “But I think just in lieu of sort of what’s transpired this year, we made a decision to not have [Green] on this list with this particular point in time with the process.
“We all understand and certainly have great respect and sensitivity to this particular period in his career and he’s working through some things both on and off the court. We at USA Basketball want to support him on his journey. We just didn’t feel that playing over the summer gives him the best opportunity to do what he needs to do.”
Green was a part of Team USA’s last two Olympic teams, winning gold at the 2016 and 2020 games.
However, now he is experiencing a new reality: distrust from the basketball ecosystem of leadership, stakeholders, and fans. The question must be asked though, when is enough enough? After all, everything that makes Draymond a pariah also made him an NBA champion.
“It’s not on changing who I am completely,” Green said to the media earlier this month. “You don’t change the spots on a leopard. It’s just not gonna happen and I’m not going to try to set some unrealistic expectation of like who is this person going to be. It’s not real and that’s not sustainable.”
USA Basketball announced the 41-athlete player pool for the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s National Team on Tuesday with the NBA saying that Hill selected the 41-athlete player pool for the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s National Team. Although it is subject to change, Hill’s trepidation with Green is on brand for the ever-politically correct Hill.
However, Draymond Green is redeemable. His style of play will have to change, but his maniacal desire to win will not, and that is ultimately what any team needs to win, especially on the world stage.
As the saga of Draymond Green continues and he re-establishes himself, Hill has to know that keeping Draymond Green off Team USA is a loss for the team, and being politically correct is not necessarily a win. In fact, it is a dog whistle for those who believe he is incapable of change.
