Nobody in the NBA is safe from Draymond Green’s “me against the world” mentality, not even head coaches.
Before his Atlanta Hawks played Green’s Golden State Warriors on Monday, coach Mike Budenholzer implied that the two-time All-Star didn’t necessarily have to be game planned for.
“He’s a unique player. He’s so unique, but I don’t know that he’s the guy that you game plan for,” Budenholzer said, per Chris Haynes of ESPN. “He does things just kind of so much on instinct intuitively, defensively, and rebounding and passing”
“You know, I think can you make it harder on him as a passer, can you make it more difficult for him to get the assists?” he continued. “And defensively, it doesn’t matter, you have to take care of the ball every night. He’s good [with] instincts and all those things, but game plan — Curry and Thompson are the guys, and he’s great at finding them and creating opportunities for them. So he’s a big part of their group.”
Green had the last laugh though as he finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals in a 119-111 victory for the Warriors to sweep the season series with the Hawks. After the game, Green wasted no time in firing back when he was asked how he felt about Budenholzer’s comments.
“And that’s exactly why they can’t beat us,” Green chimed. “That’s exactly why they won’t. Don’t game plan for me.”
Budenholzer’s comments seemed more like a testament to how difficult it is to strategize for Green’s unpredictable, visceral style of play. But of course Green has a history of using opposing head coaches’ perceived slights at him as motivation and has also beefed with owners and fans alike in just the last month alone. You do you, Draymond.
