10-08-2022, 11:21 AM
(10-08-2022, 05:07 AM)OutsiderFan Wrote: So what is y'all's take on Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole, and the implications thereof? How does the fact a video of it was released change your perception of the incident and the overall landscape of all things Warriors?
Marcus Thompson of TA says the video "changes everything" in this piece: https://theathletic.com/3668957/2022/10/...-thompson/
For me, everything about Draymond Green screams that he wants to be recognized as the BSD. And in a number of ways, he was the BSD. He's the center/PF-as-point-guard, and one of the best defenders in the league, with an absurdly high basketball IQ. People defer to him and respect him.
Here's my take on what I think was the Perfect Storm leading up to Draymond's punch:
1) When Draymond came into the NBA, he was a chubby, out-of-shape late second round pick from Michigan State. He had to work much harder, both athletically and academically to reach the heights that he's reached, and I suspect a part of him resents that (a) he's had to do it, and (b) that he hasn't been much recognized for it.
2) Draymond has never been the BSD (he knows that's reserved for Curry), but it also grates at him that for years Thompson was recognized as #2, and it particularly teed him off that Durant was seen as the co-#1 when he was here.
3) To that end, Draymond lost it -- publicly -- when he barked at Durant, much the same way as a certain kind of spouse will pick fights in public and in front of friends -- to show their power more than anything else.
4) Draymond cares little about appearances and politics -- but he cares passionately about power structures, which is why he felt he could dress down Steve Kerr semi-publicly. Which is when most of us started to sit up and take notice that Draymond was off-kilter.
5) Draymond's star is visibly dimming. His public pronouncements indicate that he doesn't necessarily believe it, that he'll fight against it, but facts are facts: he played in just 46 games last year, 63 the year before and 43 the year before. He wasn't in shape coming into the season last year, and he barely plays half the time.
6) For a "playmaker" his turnover rate has been increasing, now double what it was his rookie year in the NBA.
6) As bad as all that was...now the young guns are showing up. That's Moody, Wiseman, Kuminga...and Poole. And Poole's star is rising -- fast --as Green's is diminishing. And Green should realize that his time is limited, and his likelihood of one final Very Large Contract is getting smaller and smaller.
Final analysis? His day is done, he knows it, the young guns remind him of it directly or indirectly on an ongoing basis, and he's starting to lose control. He enjoyed an All Star year last season and an NBA championship, which he views as more his than any of the young guns, and it angers him that (a) he has to share it and (b) in his eyes, Poole is claiming credit for what he doesn't deserve.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
