The NBA has not even started its preseason, and Draymond Green is already at the center of controversy. The prone-to-suspensions Golden State Warriors forward entered into a heated exchange with a reporter who told him fans “are worried” about him.
If there is one thing that has stood out about Green in his 13-year career, it is the intensity with which he plays. For the Warriors forward, there are no half-measures. He gives everything in every game, sometimes without measuring the consequences.
Just this past December, the player received the sixth suspension of his career. Green missed 12 games of the 2023-2024 NBA season after hitting Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic on December 12. He even had to undergo counseling following the incident.
Given this background, it is not surprising that Scott Ostler, a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, told Green that people are worried about him. However, the player did not take it well, and his response started a tense exchange with the journalist.
Green’s anger
The scene occurred during the Warriors’ media day, on the way to the NBA preseason. “You know people worry about you. Fans, teammates…” the reporter began, but Green interrupted him by asking, “Why do they worry about me? I’m a successful Black man in America doing incredibly well.”
The reporter persisted with his question, but Green again countered by saying, “There are way more people in this world to worry about me than me.” The tone escalated when Ostler insisted, “But we’re here now” and Green responded, “We’re all here.”
The Warriors forward then said, “I’m doing pretty well. If you would have told me when I was 13 years old in Saginaw, Michigan, without a pot to piss in that you’d be sitting here and somebody would say they’re worried about you, I would have probably told them they were out of their mind.”
The suspension issue
Ostler tried to change his line of questioning, saying that people are worried about themselves and they know the team needs Green. This approach didn’t sit well with Green either. The player replied, “They don’t feed their families with this so why are they worried?”
When the reporter tried to ask about his multiple suspensionswithout alluding to the subject directly, Green reminded him that he had been with his team every night for the past 13 years.
Finally, Ostler asked the question he had been trying to hide, saying, “You got suspended last year.” But Green avoided answering directly, by saying, “And? Suspensions – the guideline of getting suspended is something that’s in place because it’s a possibility.”
If this is any reflection of what’s to come, Warriors fans are in for a long season.
