Draymond Green Clears Health and Safety Protocols
It looks like the Warriors defense doesn’t have to look lost much longer. Per popular Twitter account @PlayoffDraymond, and confirmed by The Athletic’s Shams Charania afterwards, Green cleared the NBA’s Covid health and safety protocols earlier today after his 6-day quarantine.
A few people took to Twitter in reply that the account’s source may have been Draymond Green as well, as Draymond has been in contact with the fan account (who is one of Warriors fans’ loudest Draymond advocates) in the past and may have wanted one of his biggest fans to get the honor of breaking the news.
Regardless of the source, the Warriors went 1-1 in Draymond’s absence after he was placed in protocol on December 26th, just after the Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns while missing two current key starters in Poole and Wiggins. The loss to Denver was still shorthanded of major rotation guys save Andrew Wiggins, and even though the Warriors came back in the 2nd half, Denver was able to shut them out due to some tough decision-making down the stretch.
The second game was a victory last night against the Utah Jazz, where the Warriors gave up a big third quarter lead but managed to close out the victory thanks to heroics from Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala. Draymond’s lack of presence was still apparent throughout the contest, however, Rudy Gobert was allowed move about the paint unhindered. Regardless, the Dubs managed to pull off the victory by using Looney’s screens to get Steph free on a drop-coverage Gobert.
Draymond’s value really showed tonight, and Jazz coach Quin Snyder had something interesting to say about Green in his postgame presser per Mark Haynes:
"I think If you want to put someone in the MVP conversation, he's someone to me” Snyder said. “Maybe the numbers don't match up to some of the numbers that some other guys put up... He just does it his way."
If you look around the league, this sentiment sort of exists, as Draymond tends to get a ton of credit from the minds around the game (coaching staff, former players, etc.) who see things in a different way out there. Draymond’s value is certainly sky-high, but it’s curious to wonder if he is in-fact an MVP caliber player. Based on how voters usually vote, the answer is no, but those who know the game have some people wondering.
Green is not listed on the injury report for tomorrow’s game against the Miami Heat. Neither is Damion Lee, who was also recently in health and safety protocols. He will have a chance to showcase his value once again, although this game should be something of a layup as Miami is missing plenty of key rotation players to primarily injuries.
(Photo credit: Michael Gonzales / Getty Images)