Draymond Addresses His Fluctuating Minutes This Season

Draymond Green isn’t the All-Star he used to be. Yes, he still has moments of greatness, but at 36 years old, he certainly isn’t the threat both offensively and defensively that he used to be. While Green is slowly coming to grips with the new type of player he can be in his old age, some Warriors fans have been confused about his lack of minutes in some tight Warriors games. 

Draymond talked about this in a recent podcast episode with Fred VanVleet. 

"People be trippin' about my minutes this year. I see people talk like '[Steve Kerr] benched Draymond'. No, I told him to. Like we're rolling, I will sit over here and Steve will come over and ask like 'Hey man, you want to go back? What you think?' 'No, let them go'. I want to win. I don't give a sh*t how it looks, I want to win. When I got taken out the game in the Boston [Finals] series and benched, I don't give sh*t, I want to win. So whatever we got to do, that's all that matters to me".

Draymond has always said that winning is his number one priority. For most of his career, the team has always been better with him on the court. However, over the last few seasons, that hasn’t always been the case. For some former stars, this would be a huge hit to the ego. For Draymond, he is understanding. 

This is the type of maturity that most aging stars should show. As your physical abilities start to decline, it is important to figure out where your new skill set fits within the framework of a winning team. Draymond has enough self-awareness to know that sometimes, it’s better for the team to have him on the bench.