Draymond Green has been a guaranteed starter for the Golden State Warriors during their run of championships, but the team brought him off the bench Sunday against the Sacramento Kings, apparently at his own suggestion.
Green wound up playing 31 minutes against the Kings in a 126-125 win in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series, but did not start a playoff game for the first time since 2014.
Asked about the move after the game, Green said he simply did not want to disrupt anything after the team played well while he was suspended in Game 3.
“I’m a firm believer in, if something isn’t broke, you don’t fix it,” Green said. “Our offense was rolling and we played really good defensively. I didn’t want to come back and just shake things up because I’m back. That’s not right. Jordan [Poole] went out there, he played well, we played well. He earned it. Our team earned that.
“There’s a lot of guys who start to feel a sense of entitlement, like that spot’s yours. I never want to reach that point in my career where I feel entitled to something. Those guys don’t fare well in the end.”
Green has plenty of critics, and it’s easy to get tired of his relentless underdog mentality. However, it no doubt plays a role in making him successful. He is correct that plenty of players would not have been so willing to accept a demotion, much less be the one to actively suggest it.
Green scored 12 points to go with 10 rebounds and seven assists in the win, so his production largely matched what he would usually do as a starter. It remains to be seen whether the Warriors stick with the lineup in Game 5, as Golden State was +8 with Green on the floor.
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