SAN FRANCISCO — A sprained left ankle. Sore ribs. A gimpy left wrist. Draymond Green was a whole team’s injury report unto himself after spending the previous 48 minutes jostling with 7-foot bruiser Ivica Zubac in Monday’s loss to the Clippers.
There was no dramatic incident, no hard foul that caused those afflictions. They occurred naturally through the course of play: Green diving into the bench for a loose ball, then defending Kawhi Leonard on a drive and falling down. These manically energetic plays, which have defined Green’s Hall of Fame career on the defensive side, took their toll.
“I’m beat the hell up,” Green said. “I try to take it upon myself to be that level of physicality to the group, bring that energy that it takes to win high-level basketball games.”
It is no surprise that Green found himself on the injury report for Wednesday’s matchup with the Bucks, who feature the 6-foot-11 battering ram Giannis Antetokounmpo. Green still approaches stopping the other team with the reckless abandon of a man 10 years younger and remains a smart defender who commands the respect of his peers and coach.
Advanced statistics still paint him as one of the league’s best on that side, having already accrued 1.2 defensive win shares in just 30 games. But having to battle players six inches taller and 30 pounds heavier than the 6-foot-6, 230-pound Green is much more of a chore at age 35 than in the past—a challenge the Warriors have hoped to avoid this season.
“It’s amazing how many plays he blows up, and everything he sees on the court—his mind and his ability to process before the rest of the nine players—he still has all of that,” coach Steve Kerr said Monday. “He’s not what he was five years ago, athletically, and he’s not quite as quick.”
Green is still capable of stymying the best post players in the world—see his performances against Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic earlier this year. However, having him do it full-time is no longer the ideal plan for Golden State.
Kerr, general manager Mike Dunleavy, and Green himself have all expressed a desire for Green to play less at center. Quinten Post has started the majority of the team’s games in that role.
But playing Green at power forward, even alongside the volume-shooting Post, has exposed his growing shortcomings as a scorer next to Jimmy Butler. Neither player is a prolific long-range shooter, but Green’s dwindling speed advantage diminishes further when guarded by power forwards rather than centers on dribble handoffs.
Green averages 2.9 turnovers per game—just behind Stephen Curry’s 3.0—but in five fewer minutes per night than his co-star. Part of the issue stems from Green’s reluctance to take shots himself, which allows defenses to key in on his passes to cutters when he has the ball.
Green does not view his scoring passivity as a problem unless it comes late in the game. “Throughout the flow of the game, I’ll turn shots down and I don’t really care,” he said on New Year’s Eve.
The same advanced stats that praise Green as a defender also paint him as one of the league’s worst offensive players. Box plus-minus, which aims to capture a player’s overall impact with zero as neutral, has Green at -2.8 on offense. This pulls his overall rating down to -1.0 despite positive defensive contributions.
He also recently went eight consecutive games with a negative plus-minus, although he has been positive in three of the last four contests.
But regardless of what any catch-all stat says, or how many games he finishes early due to ejections or blowups with coaches, Green will likely remain a fixture in the starting lineup.
At his best, he brings a unique chemistry with Stephen Curry as a passer while defending with a versatility no other player can match—traits that make him invaluable to Golden State. Even if this kind of play can hurt himself and the team more than it used to.
https://www.orovillemr.com/2026/01/07/draymond-green-warriors-impact-defense-offense/