Draymond Green offers a lot for the Golden State Warriors. Even as an undersized big man, Green can hold his own against some of the best big men in the NBA. The Warriors star is also an intelligent defender. After all, he has one Defensive Player of the Year award and has made nine All-Defensive teams. Offensively, he orchestrates Steve Kerr‘s system on the court as the team’s primary floor general.
Green is widely recognized as a player with a high basketball IQ. Even when he was younger, people could already see the four-time All-Star as a future coach. Initially, he didn’t like the idea of taking that path after his playing career in the league finished. However, his mentality about it has changed, and he is now open to coaching to share his knowledge.
After the Warriors’ 119-97 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday, Green revealed his new mentality about it.
“As I get closer to the end, I think a little bit more about it, and I’m definitely closer than I was a couple years ago,” Green said. “You had asked me two years ago, I would’ve told you hell no.”
“You play this game for all these years, and then you’re just done — like, where does the knowledge go? What did you do? What did you give back to those to keep it moving forward, to keep the game growing? You owe it to the game to leave it in a better place than it was when you found it.”
His teammate, Brandin Podziemski, can see a seamless transition for Green as a potential coach. He commended the star striker for his intelligence and leadership, both of which might be helpful in his post-playing career.
“Really, really smart guy when it comes to basketball,” Podziemski said. “X’s and O’s, knows how to talk to people, how to be a leader — all things you’d want in a good coach, I think he brings, so I could definitely see that in his future for sure.”
Draymond Green commends De’Anthony Melton’s post-ACL injury play
Credit: Getty Images
De’Anthony Melton stepped up his game for the Warriors on Tuesday. He came off the bench and scored 23 points on 64.3% shooting. He has been impressive since recovering from a torn ACL last season. After their contest against the Blazers, Draymond Green commended the veteran guard for his strong outing.
“We thought he was important before he got hurt… Very happy for him as I know the work that he put in to get back,” the four-time champion said.
Asked Draymond Green about watching De’Anthony Melton get back to this level behind the scenes after the season-ending ACL injury last year:
“We thought he was important before he got hurt… Very happy for him as I know the work that he put in to get back.” pic.twitter.com/91LYgdEGZ3
— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) January 14, 2026
Melton has appeared in 16 games this season, averaging 10.6 points and 2.5 rebounds on 42.3% shooting. Over the past six games, he’s started to do more, averaging 15.3 points and 3.2 rebounds. He’s also shooting 53.0% from the field and 45.7% from deep.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
