Draymond Green has been sidelined for the past few weeks with a back issue that has been affecting his lower body. While there is no timetable for his return, the 3x champ was able to provide some better insight into how his conditioning has been going since the injury.

“I’m feeling great. Feeling stronger each day, I actually got on the court and got some shots up” Green told the Inside crew. “I’m just trying not to do it too fast. Obviously I wanna make sure that when I come back that I’m thriving, and I’m playing at an even higher level than I was before.”

The Warriors haven’t been quite the same team as they were to start the season recently, and a big part of that is because of Dray’s absence. Green has missed 15 games on the season, and the Warriors are only one above .500 at 8 wins and 7 losses in those games. There’s been a multitude of factors: Steph Curry’s shooting slump (although given last night’s performance, we may see a return to form very soon) and rotation tinkering to successfully reintegrate Klay Thompson to the team chief among those factors.

Regardless, Green’s value is second only to Curry’s in terms of what he brings to the team. His defense is his obvious calling-card, as the Warriors are the clear-cut best defense in the league when he’s playing. He also brings a 7ppg/7apg/7rpg stat line, turning jokes about “triple singles” on their head and bringing immense value as a do-it-all guy. If Curry’s the engine of the offense, then Green is its conductor.

As mentioned, there’s still no schedule to see when Draymond may be back and playing. He did, however, mention that he was starting to ramp up his routines a bit during his intro on Inside:

“I’m supposed to see the specialist again at the beginning of the week… The rehab has been going great, and I’m extremely excited about the progress hat I’ve made” Green said of his injury.

The perennial Defensive Player of the Year remained on the short segment of his official introduction into the Turner Sports team, reading tweets about his new contract to appear on Inside the NBA more regularly and having the crew poke some fun at him in various ways. It’s obvious that Green’s presence fits like a glove for the show’s vibes.

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