Tag: Draymond Green

Draymond Green suggests Harden is taken for granted in MVP race

The Warriors have beaten the Rockets in four separate playoff series since 2015, but there seems to be a healthy respect on both sides.

Since the 2014-15 season, the Golden State Warriors have defeated the Houston Rockets in four intense series over various editions of the NBA playoffs. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t mutual respect.

The Warriors (15-50) had the NBA’s worst record this season, due largely to widespread injuries to key players that ravaged the roster. As such, they weren’t among the 22 teams invited to Florida to participate in the league’s summer restart, and veteran forward Draymond Green has helped out TNT’s television crew in recent days with studio analysis.

On Saturday, Green was on set when the league’s three finalists for MVP were announced. That list included James Harden of the Rockets, as well as Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers. While Green said he would pick James as this season’s MVP, he also made a case for Harden being overlooked based on his ability to make extraordinary statistics appear routine.

Here’s the question Green posed to the TNT panel:

Does James Harden get penalized for the numbers that he’s putting up now? Is everybody just used to it and that’s what you expect, and so now no one gives him the credit that he’s deserving? I think I see a little bit of that.

In the clip, TNT’s Kenny Smith appeared receptive to that argument.

Harden has been an MVP finalist in each of the last four seasons. He finished second in 2016-17 and 2018-19, and he won it in 2018-19.

This year, Harden is leading the Rockets and the NBA in scoring at a 34.3 points per game clip, which is just the third time in over 30 years that a player has averaged at least 34 points in a season. (The other two were Harden’s 36.1 last season and Kobe Bryant’s 35.4 in 2005-06.)

Assuming “The Beard” keeps his scoring average above 34 after the four remaining regular-season games, Harden will become just the third player in league history to average at least 34 points in two different seasons, joining Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Over his eight years to date in Houston, Harden has earned All-Star honors in all of them while leading his Rockets to the playoffs during each season.

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In addition to his historic scoring numbers, Harden ranks eighth in the NBA in assists at 7.5 per game this season. He’s also No. 5 in steals (1.8).

Now 30 years old, Harden is still searching for his first NBA title. Perhaps it’s more doable than ever in 2020, since Green’s Warriors are no longer in the way. Whatever the case, even without a championship ring, it certainly seems that Harden has already earned their respect.

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Draymond Green believes LeBron James should win the 2020 NBA MVP award

After the finalists for the 2019-2020 NBA Most Valuable Player award were announced, Draymond Green cast his vote for LeBron James.

On Saturday, the league announced a trio of finalists for the NBA’s 2020 Most Valuable Player award.

Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo joined Houston’s James Harden and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers on the list of finalists for the 2020 edition of the award.

With no members of the Golden State Warriors having a chance to take home hardware in 2020, Draymond Green revealed his pick for who should win the Maurice Podoloff Trophy. In an appearance on NBA on TNT, Green cast his vote for James.

Via @TurnerSportsPR on Twitter:

I’m going with LeBron [James]. I think the year LeBron has had — resurrecting that Lakers franchise, I think that has to stand for something. So I’m going with LeBron.

On his way to leading the Lakers to the top-seed in the Western Conference, James is averaging 25.3 points on 49.4% shooting from the field with 10.3 assists and 8.0 boards in 64 games. James’ 10.3 assists per contest is a career-high mark for the 16-year veteran.

In two games against Green and the Warriors in 2019-20, James has recorded a pair of double-doubles in each contest. In November against Golden State, James tallied 23 points, 12 assists and six rebounds. Later in February, the four-time MVP notched 22 points and 11 assists in the Lakers 125-120 victory.

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Before the Lakers enter the postseason for the first time since 2013, James will have three games left in the seeding round of the Orlando Bubble to add to his potential MVP campaign.

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Draymond Green says Kevin Durant is the best scorer ever

Draymond Green said Kevin Durant is the best scorer ever Saturday while on TNT.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is one of the NBA’s smartest players, so his analysis of fellow hoopers shouldn’t be taken lightly.

On Saturday, Green extended praise toward Kevin Durant as Charles Barkley talked about why James Harden is the best offensive player in the modern game.

“Kevin Durant is the best scorer by the way,” Green said on the NBA on TNT. “The best scorer ever. Not even close. No disrespect to James, but Kevin Durant is the best scorer ever.”

Green had the opportunity to see Durant’s scoring prowess up close for three seasons, as the two led the Warriors to back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.

Durant, who is rehabbing his right Achilles, signed with the Brooklyn Nets in summer 2019. As a two-time champion and the 2014 MVP, Durant’s pedigree is steeped in offensive greatness. He’s a four-time scoring champ, and his arsenal is endless. He can use his handles for long-range dribble pull-ups. He can drive to the rim. He can make spot-up jumpers. He’s an elite midrange scorer.

Simply put, Durant has no legitimate weaknesses on offense. He’s averaged 27.0 points per game, shot 49.3% from the field and 38.1% from the 3-point line in his career.

Green complimenting him to this extent just shows how good Durant is, especially considering Michael Jordan and the late Kobe Bryant were just as sound offensively as Durant. Durant currently ranks 31st all-time in points (22,940), and he ranks fourth in points among active players.

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Draymond Green said Kevin Durant is the best scorer of all-time and he has a legitimate case

He’s right.

Draymond Green and Kevin Durant have obviously had their differences in the past.

One could argue that Green might have played a major role in Durant’s decision to leave the Golden State Warriors last year. Last year’s blow up against the Clippers has been rehashed in a multitude of ways.

But despite their differences, there is no denying Durant’s greatness as a player — particularly when it comes to his scoring. Green knows that and has admitted as much.

He did so again on Saturday afternoon during a visit to NBA on TNT. They were having a conversation about the NBA’s best scorers, and Green showed us just how much of an appreciation he has for Durant’s ability.

He called Durant the greatest scorer ever. And not just in this current era — of all-time.

Now, there have been a ton of great scorers throughout NBA history that could lay claim to this title. Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and the list goes on.

But Durant absolutely belongs in that conversation. And there’s a legitimate argument that he scores better than all of them.

The numbers are obviously there. He has four scoring titles, is a member of the 40-50-90 club and he has the 6th highest scoring average (27.0 ppg) in NBA history. By the way, he’s just 31 years old.

But what really makes Durant’s case is how deep his bag gets. He’s a unicorn. Before Durant, we’d never seen a 7-foot guard who can take anyone off the dribble. He can play the post, shoot from 30 feet out and, fam, don’t ever lose track of him in transition.

Again, there are other cases to be made for other players. But the Durant case is a legitimate one. And if his torn achilles doesn’t slow him down any further, he’ll just continue to add to it.

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Draymond Green: Kevin Durant is ‘the best scorer ever, not even close’

Kevin Durant may not be a member of the Golden State Warriors anymore, but Draymond Green still has a ton of respect for his game.

The NBA may be back, but the “best of all time” debates have not ceased. They just come up so naturally.

Take Saturday’s NBA on TNT broadcast for example.

While discussing the 2019-20 NBA Award Finalists — which were revealed on Saturday (no Nets made any list) — Charles Barkley mentioned again how he feels James Harden, a 2020 MVP Finalist, is the best offensive player the sport has ever seen.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was featured on the broadcast with his team not in the Disney bubble — and he wasn’t having any of what Barkley had to say.

Green made sure to slide in a quick note about who he thinks is superior on that end of the floor after Barkley explained himself:

Kevin Durant’s the best scorer, by the way.

Barkley questioned him, to which Green responded:

The best scorer ever, not even close.

Kenny Smith asked if Green meant in this era. Green replied:

No disrespect to Jame [Harden], but Kevin Durant is the best scorer ever.

Charles Barkley’s ongoing feud with Draymond Green finally appears to be over

This is good.

Draymond Green and Charles Barkley’s beef appears to be squashed. Or, at the very least, they set it aside for television. Either way, over the last few days the two have really been getting along.

It’s no secret that before this, Barkley and Green didn’t appear to like each other very much at all. They’ve taken some subtle and some non-so-subtle shots at each other over the last few months.

The two have been feuding for years now, since Chuck said he wanted to punch Green in the face in 2018.  They squashed everything at one point, but it just kept coming back up over the years.

Now, though, things seem to be cordial between the two — at least for now, anyway. Green was a guest on NBA on TNT on Friday night and the two got along just fine.

They spoke about the feud and even made jokes.

There was a moment where things got a bit shaky, but it ended up being fine.

It wasn’t just on NBA on TNT, either. Before that, on The Steamroom with Ernie Johnson and Barkley, the two got along extremely well.

The two have been working together on various shows for a couple of weeks now, and it was hard to tell how it’d go given their past. But everything seems to be going swell so far.

Their beef was entertaining, but it’s great to see these two finally getting along — even if it’s just for the sake of content.

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Draymond Green pleads for Joel Embiid to stop shooting jump shots

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green wants Joel Embiid to stop shooting jump shots.

It’s funny how life works for the Philadelphia 76ers. They have one star player who is reluctant to shoot jumpers–but he should–and the other star who gets criticized for shooting too many of them.

The first assessment references Ben Simmons who is one of the game’s bright stars, but he has a jump shot block while the other focuses on Joel Embiid. The big man is so dominant in the post as he will either score on his opponent or he will get fouled.

In the first half of Friday’s 108-101 win over the Orlando Magic, Embiid was settling for too many jump shots and he only had one free-throw attempt while the Sixers trailed 50-48 at the half. That caused Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green to beg the big fella to stop settling for jumpers at halftime for TNT:

Embiid got the message as he was much more aggressive in the second half getting to the foul line 12 times in the final 24 minutes and he was credited for being the reason why the Sixers woke up and moved forward with the win. When he is aggressive in the post like that, the Sixers are a much different team. [lawrence-related id=36470,36462,36430]

Steph Curry reacts to Joel Embiid’s signature Under Armour shoe debut with hilarious impression

After Joel Embiid revealed his new signature Under Armour shoes, Stephen Curry responded with a hilarious impersonation of the All-Star big.

On Friday against the Orlando Magic, Joel Embiid rolled out the first edition of his signature Under Armour shoes. After the debut of the Embiid One, Stephen Curry welcomed the Philadelphia 76ers big to the Under Armour signature shoe family.

On Instagram, Curry shared a video from the gym with an impression of the Sixers All-Star center. From the moment he crossed halfcourt, the two-time Most Valuable Player transformed into Embiid. Curry caught the ball at the top of the 3-point line and pump-faked from beyond the arc. The point guard turned center proceeded to take the ball inside before flipping in a turnaround shot from the key.

Curry capped off his impression with an Embiid themed celebration routine. In the caption, Curry welcomed the Kansas Jayhawk product with Embiid’s signature “trust the process” mantra.

Via @StephenCurry30 on Twitter:

Trust the process! Welcome to the signature shoe family, @JoelEmbiid! #embiid1 @UAbasketball

On Instagram, Curry posed for a photo with his own personal pair of Embiid’s new signature Under Armour shoe.

Via @StephenCurry30 on Instagram:

For a better look at Embiid’s new kicks, the 26-year-old shared a pair of photos that feature his signature shoes on Twitter.

Via @JoelEmbiid on Twitter:

In his first game donning the new signature shoes, Embiid tallied a double-double with 23 points and 13 boards in the Philadelphia 76ers win against the Orlando Magic. Through four games in the Orlando Bubble, Embiid is averaging 30.2 points and 13.3 rebounds per contest.

Via @NBA on Twitter:

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Draymond Green calls for Devin Booker to leave the Phoenix Suns: ‘It’s not good for his career’

Despite the Suns 4-0 record in the Orlando Bubble, Draymond Green called for Devin Booker to leave Phoenix in an appearance on NBA on TNT.

Despite their formidable path to the playoffs, the Phoenix Suns snuck into the league’s restart plans with a 26-39 record. Since entering the Orlando Bubble, the Suns have quickly blossomed into one of the best stories in the NBA Bubble.

Behind Devin Booker, the Suns have registered a 4-0 record with wins against the playoff-bound Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks. Against the Clippers, Booker drilled an improbable turnaround jumper at the buzzer to seal the Suns’ victory, 117-115.

Via @NBATV on Twitter:

Despite the Suns’ steady play, Draymond Green called for Booker to leave the organization that drafted him. In an appearance on the NBA on TNT, the Golden State Warriors forward said Phoenix isn’t good for the 23-year-old All-Star’s career.

It’s great to see Book playing well and Phoenix playing well, but get my man out of Phoenix. It’s not good for him, it’s not good for his career. Sorry, Chuck — They got to get Book out of Phoenix. I need my man to go somewhere he can play great basketball all the time and win because he’s that type of player.

Following the former Defensive Player of the Year calling for Booker’s exit, Ernie Johnson asked if he was tampering. Green laughed and responded with “maybe.”

Watch the NBA on TNT clip Via @Rachel__Nichols on Twitter:

Green didn’t openly call for Booker to join any specific team, only to leave the organization that hasn’t stamped a winning record since he was drafted in 2015.

With the arrival of Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender in Golden State, Green has had a first-hand look at what a change of scenery can do for former members of the Suns.

Regardless of Green’s comments, Booker still has four years left on the max-contract he signed with Phoenix in 2018. On top of his long term deal, Booker’s All-Star caliber playmaking paired with the evolution of Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges could begin to shift the Suns’ spot in the standings.

Their 4-0 start at Disney World could be a preview of the future in Phoenix.

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NBA Twitter reacts to Draymond Green saying Devin Booker needs to leave Phoenix

Tampering!

Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green made a special guest appearance on Inside The NBA on Friday night, and made some eyebrow raising comments about Suns star Devin Booker that could potentially result in punishment for tampering.

Booker has been sensational for the Suns in the bubble, averaging 28 points per game to lead the Suns to a perfect 4-0 record in Orlando. Phoenix didn’t have much of a shot of making a playoff push when the season resumed, but are now 2.5 games back of No. 8 Memphis.

On Friday night, Green said that Booker has to leave Phoenix and play on a team that can win consistently.

“It’s great to see Book playing well and Phoenix playing well, but get my man out of Phoenix. It’s not good for him, it’s not good for his career. Sorry Chuck, but they got to get Book out of Phoenix. I need my man to go somewhere where he can play great basketball all the time and win, because he’s that type of player.”

Ernie Johnson then asked Green if he was tampering, and Green said “maybe.”

In the superteam era, it’s obvious that players collude to determine their future teams – but that stuff typically happens behind the scenes, and players don’t openly discuss movement on national TV. The NBA has to this point only punished teams for tampering with players, but LeBron James caused a major debate on tampering rules in 2019 when he expressed admiration for then-Pelicans star Anthony Davis. The league passed stricter tampering rules ahead of the 2019-20 season, and NBA Twitter seems to believe that commissioner Adam Silver may make an example of Green.

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