It's time for Draymond Green to be a robot after all

Green eligible to return against Pelicans but listed as game time decision

It’s been three days since the NBA officially ended the indeterminate suspension of Draymond Green. Since they’ve said that he’ll not play until cleared as physically ready by the medical team, he’ll be a game-time decision tonight. Whenever he returns to action, the Golden State Warriors (and everyone else) is waiting to see what - if anything - will be different.

The Warriors need him. Or at least, they need the good version of him.

Up this evening: the Warriors will host the red-hot New Orleans Pelicans. No seriously. CJ McCollum’s team has won five of their last six games, including two blowout wins. Even under the best circumstances this would be a challenging game, and there’s no such thing as that around a crumbling Golden empire these days.

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GAME DETAILS

WHO: Golden State Warriors (17-19) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (22-15)

WHEN: Wednesday, January 10th, 2024; 5:30pm (?!?)

WATCH: NBCSBA; ESPN/ABC

[author’s note: I don’t know what’s going on with the schedule. 5:30 at home? And ESPN, ABC, and NBCSBA all listed as broadcast…]

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The Warriors do, finally, need Draymond Green to be a robot

Back in February of 2016, Green laced into head coach Steve Kerr in what would become an infamous rant. The issue was ill-advised threes. A uniquely hilarious criticism given that the shots were so valuable because they could have been handed to Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson.

To be fair to Green, he did end up shoting a career best 38.8% from deep that season.

But nonetheless, it was the first whoa dude moment of Green’s illustrious career of whoa dude exceedences. There was the “we don’t need you” weirdness with Kevin Durant, and of course the brutal full-throated punch of teammate Jordan Poole right in the middle of a practice. And this is before we get into all of the extracurriculars with opposing players like those that led to this most recent suspension.

So no, even those that have stood by Green through all the previous noise aren’t feeling especially patient or hopeful that this is going to be some sort of miracle turnaround for a player that has been exceptional at pushing the edge - but perhaps less adept at not fumbling over the far side of the line to the point where it actively hurts his team. Changed behavior, not apologies. That’s the next step here if the union is going to work well enough to survive the stress.

Green is shooting 42.9% from distance this season, which would be far and away his best mark were he to maintain it. In limited minutes (and shot attempts) Green is quietly turning in his most efficient offensive season as a scorer, with a .619 TS% that is following a pattern of improvement over the last handful of seasons. That too would be the best of his career if he could finish the season with it.

Golden State needs it too. They need every inch of Draymond Green’s leadership, scoring contribution, defense, floor general duties… you name it, they need it. There’s an Edgar Allan Poe ticking loudly in the foreground of this season as the contract situation, an aging veteran core, and a hungry brigade of talented youths all vie for paths to success that may not exactly line up all that well together. Or maybe it does, if this thing shakes out right.

None of that matters if Green can’t keep it together.

Kerr made the point to mention that the team has asked Green to lay off the refs. I’m personally thankful for this point of emphasis as I know I’m not the only one that groans a “dude stop talking” at the screen as Green follows a referee around loudly griping about a play that was fairly often the correct one.

There’s a fatigue that comes with the incessant tirades. The inability to turn it off. Greeen and the Warriors have thrived together, but every now and then it becomes too much. As the frequency and intensity have slowly ramped up, so too has the fuse quickened. It seems like these days, Green is moments away from going fully nuclear at all times. And that’s no good. It’s certainly not light years ahead of the competition.

If this is going to work, Green’s got to be able to keep the good parts and stifle the bad. He’s finally got to face that same demon from eight years ago and be a robot. Shut down the error and prevent the self-destruction.

If not, the writing is on the wall that something big will have to change.