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Sep 10, 2022; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Golden State Warrior Draymond Green (center) was among those honored with Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo (right) during a third quarter ceremony honoring basketball greats in the Akron Zips at Michigan State Spartans game. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-Imagn Images Dale Young-Imagn Images

MSU's Draymond Green's Mother Set Him Straight, Shaped His Journey

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Tom Cavanaugh | Last updated Jun 26, 2025 3:59 PM ET

Draymond Green is one of the greatest to have ever come through the Michigan State basketball program. But it took some tough love to get there.

In a recent podcast interview, Michigan State legend Draymond Green explained the No. 1 reason why he was able to be a Spartan and become the four-time NBA champion player that he is today.

Green recently joined "The Pivot Podcast" with NFL alums Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder. They discussed a myriad of different topics regarding Green's life and career. One topic surrounding his journey to Michigan State really stuck out.

Taylor asked Green what his biggest pivot in life has been to this point. Throughout all the early hardships he went through, the championships, the All-Defensive awards, Green dialed in on once aspect of his life that changed the trajectory of his career and made him a Spartan.

Green said there were multiple pivots in his life that led him to this point of his career, but one sticks out from his high school days. One that not only propelled him to a basketball career in East Lansing, but instilled values that he still carries today. He gave all the credit to his mother, Mary Babers.

The Spartan great highlighted a time in the ninth grade when he was caught cheating on a test and received a D- in the class for cheating. Green had offers coming in and was being shown strong interest from across the country.

He detailed what happened after he got caught and how his mother did right by him, helping him learn what it takes to be a successful man.

"Michigan State was my dream school, Tom Izzo has an Izzo shootout at Michigan State, the team camp," Green said. "We was playing AAU, going to big tournaments, I was on a great AAU team by this point and she (Babers) stopped me from playing that summer. I couldn't go to team camp and people from my city was coming to the door.

"Marshall Thomas, the Godfather, even talked to my mom and she was like 'That's cool, he ain't going. Y'all can send whoever y'all want over here, because if he end up dumb and failing, y'all going to move on to the next kid and he just going to be back in this house.' So he ain't going.

"It taught me accountability. I'm like, you got to put the work in, you got to be accountable. And so, when I go back to that moment in life, that was ninth grade, that's what got me to Michigan State. It's that moment right there that got me to Michigan State which is one of the best things that ever happened to me."

Green credits a lot of his journey to success to his mother and rightfully so. She instilled values in his throughout his life that not only made him one of the most memorable Spartans in history, but also a respectable, honest, and hard-working human being. His mother instilled it and Izzo helped perfect it.

Ensure that you follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our lively community group, Go Green Go White, as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.