The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Draymond Green Show - Lakers Surging, LeBron's Injury, Dame's 71

Episode Date: February 28, 2023

Draymond Green discusses the Warriors going 2-1 since the All-Star break, how his knee is feeling after missing two games, the Los Angeles Lakers playing better since the trade deadline but now facing LeBron James's foot injury, and Damian Lillard's 71 point game in context with his comments about the value of winning a championship. Produced by: Jackson Safon #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. The Dremont Green Show is presented by Fandul. The NBA season, kicking into gear, baby, no better place to get in on the action than Fandul. Fandul app is safe. You get paid fast. A lot of ways to play. The spread, the money line, team totals, players, props, a lot of stuff. Over unders.

Jump into the action. Same game parlay is my favorite. Just use the promo code Colin and download the fan. dual app today. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. As you know, we are officially, officially back from All-Star Break. Last time we spoke, we were kind of gearing up to get ready to start the season back from All-Star Break. Games are back going. The dubs are two and one since the break, losing to the Lakers, but coming home and beating the Rockets. And also Sunday night's game, we were able to get a comeback win at home versus the Timberwolves, which was a huge

win. Coming into that game, I think we were 30 and 30, and they were 31 and 31. So right there in the standings, a pretty big time win for us. Obviously, missing Steph, Wiggins, myself, GP, Andre. Guys went out there and got it done. Was a huge win, which we will get straight into that. Nasree, first off, Nasree is starting like Nasree is just like playing against the Warriors. This guy comes out and has

incredible games. I've always been a fan of Nasree. Since he came into the league, I would have conversations with him as a rookie, like, yo, you got some game. If you get your body in shape and lose some weight, like it really take your game to the next level. And he's done

every bit of that. He's gotten an incredible shape, which is why you see an uptick in the monster dunks from Nasree. But he is, he's playing really well. And that team, they seem to play better when he's playing at the five, which I think is an interesting, very interesting thing. The spacing is different. Ant Man didn't have a great game Sunday night against us,

but he's able to get into pain. And I think our defense, our guys did a great. great job of standing the shell and making him play in a crowd. So he just didn't see gaps that he can drive. And then the jump shot wasn't going. So that was good. And I think we did a good job there. Dante D. Finchino had another great game.

Clay Thompson. Clay's been playing extremely well. Dante actually said something last night. I came across a quote where he said like, yeah, like, it's Clay Thompson. He's, what do you expect? Like, it's a Hall of Famer. And quite frankly, that is the league that we're playing in.

It's always what have you done for me lately. And so, you know, Clay may come. It's like they said unwashed and, you know, still chasing greatness and all of those things. And so it's great to see Clay having the games that he's been having, especially during a time where without Steph, where we're missing so many guys, including myself the last couple of games. Quite frankly, I am planning on playing tonight

versus the Blazers, barring that, you know, everything leading up to this game, say status quo, but I got a number I. I know everybody was wondering, where did I get hurt or how did I get hurt? I was on one play versus the Lakers. In the third quarter, Jared Vanderbilt had the ball, and he's like stumbling down the paint,

in the ball and his knee goes right into mine. And, like, I didn't start hopping to nothing, but on that play, I just stayed there. The ball, we took the ball, we went down to court, and I just stayed there with my hand on my knee, and I was just standing there for a while, like, holding my knee because it hurt like hell. And, you know, the MRI came back, no structural damage. Obviously, there are some fluid in my knee from the knock, you know, that's just created a little bit of swelling.

which has helped me out the last two games. And then, you know, after it seemed that it wasn't improving much over the first day or two, decided to get an MRI before Sunday's game. And like I said, it came back clean. So at that point for me, it's just about tolerating the pain. And there's obviously still a little pain there from a, you know, you go to knee to knee those things hurt, especially when you go to knee to knee with the super bony guys like Jared Vanderbilt.

Like, you catch a knee from no. those guys and they hurt like hell. And so, like I said, so at this point, it's just about managing the fluid, you know, continuing to try to get all of that out. But I'm ready to go. The NBA stretch run is upon us. Huge matchups across the league as my dubs and I

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Download Game Time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. and I'm looking forward to playing with the guys tonight. Like I said, two and one since the All-Star break. Blazers, I think, are two or three games behind us in the standings. But more importantly than them being behind us, only two or three games in the standing is we need wins. And the dubs are now 24 and 7, if I'm not mistaken, in home games.

And, you know, we've got to take care of our home court. As you know, we've been complete shit on the road. So, got to at least take care of the ones that, home and been doing a great job of that. Like I said, the other night was a huge, or Sunday night was a huge win. And we got to continue to build on that. When you have an injury that's not a structurally damaging one, like you obviously avoided bigger structural issues with the MRI.

So now it's more of a pain tolerance issue. But then what's that process like and what's the communication like in terms of you and the coaching staff and the training staff? Is it you going to them saying, hey, I feel pretty good finally. I'm ready to play. Is it them saying maybe we should take another day to rest it? Like what is that communication chain sort of like when it comes to non-long-term injuries? For me, it's about like, you know, then they're just totally going off how you feel about the pain.

Now, in saying that, you get the knee knot that I have with the bruise or whatnot. And it shuts down other things. Okay, so your VMO shuts down, which is your, you know, right the muscle right on the inside of your knee, right in the inside of your quad. which is a very important stabilization muscle, that starts to shut down. Your IT band start to shut down when you get those. Those are extremely important stabilization muscles. So if you get those shutting down,

then you put yourself at risk of something else. You know, and so that's where kind of my conversation is with Rick, like, all right, Rick, well, I feel good enough to go play. And he's like, all right, yeah, but we have to make sure that those muscles are, fire in the correct way because if they're not, then they make you susceptible to this injury. And so I think it actually goes into like the low management thing, right? Like there are times like that where it's like, yes, you actually could get out there and play,

right? But if something else is affected that can create a much worse injury than what you're already going through, then maybe you do take another game or two, you see? And so I think people don't necessarily always understand that side of things as well on the wrist and what else it's opening up as far as your body goes and how the whole entire chain matters. Those are all the things that you have to take into account. And I think that's where the conversation and trust

amongst the training staff comes into play because with the training staff and the player comes into play because you have to be honest, right? Like, I'm not going to go in there and lie and say I feel 100% great because then you're not allowing them to, use their expertise. So I'm going to go be totally honest and say, all right, well, I still feel

some pain, but not enough pain to where I can't do X, Y, and Z. You know, and then he'll say, all right, well, here's what we have to watch. We have to make sure your VMO is fire and we have to make sure your IT bands, your glutes and everything are active. We have to do X, Y, and Z, and then we can go from there, right? And so that dialogue is extremely important. The honesty and trust is extremely important because that's the way you're going to do. you work through those. The loss to the Lakers was a tough one. Obviously, you're coming off all-star break.

And, you know, those guys play really well. They shot the ball extremely well. And, you know, it's been interesting seeing this new-look Lakers team, you know, where they have more spacing. They have Jared Vanderbilt doing small things. Malik Beasley's just out there firing. And as we all know, Malik can shoot the hell out of the ball.

Delo's been out since our game. You know, he went out with, I think, an ankle injury. Braun dealing with a foot injury, actually to the opposite foot, than the one that he's been dealing with for most of the year. I thought it was very interesting. And watching that game, he said very clearly, like, I heard a pop.

And any time you hear an athlete say, I heard a pop, that's never good. Now, LeBron went ahead and finished the game, and, you know, they were able to come out with a win, which was a huge win them going to Dallas. We, you know, knowing where the standings are, Dallas just got Kyrie. So two new look teams, you know, Lakers goes down 27 points, I think, 27 points in the second quarter. And they fought back to win that game. We just received news that Brian is going to be out for indefinitely for, for, multiple games.

That hurts the Lakers a lot. This is a team that's starting a row that's, you know, four and one in their last five games. We all understand where they are in the standings. They got some ground to continue to make up, which, you know, looking at their new-look team seemed more than capable and like they're going to make that ground up. Now you got LeBron out for multiple games.

What does that mean? well, Dilo has been out for the last two games, I think, since our game, he's been out. Now you take LeBron out. That's two of your three ball handlers that you have on the roster now out. Not sure when Dilo will be back, but now you only have Dennis Schroeder as a primary ball handler. That can get tough. And so, I mean, you'd hope that LeBron is not out for long. You hope he's back sooner rather than later.

but to say I heard a pop in my foot and then have a noticeable limp after and then it come out a day later that you're out indefinitely. That's not a good sign. Like I said, especially with the Lakers needing to win these games coming up, it's never a good sign with a guy going out like that, especially with a foot injury. Bron is the size of centers in the NBA today

and moving like guards still. So the foot, that's very, very important. So we now know that LeBron will miss multiple games. We will see how the Lakers fare now over these games that LeBron is out. Obviously, you expect a heavy dose of Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis is going to have to step it up even more. But, you know, we'll see how it turns out. Wishing Brown a speed of recovery.

You know, year 20 is still doing it how he's doing And you never want to see guys injured So wishing him a speed of recovery But we have to keep our eyes out now on the Lakers And, you know, just When it rains and pours, man, it just seems like they're starting to turn the corner With their new roster and then this happens.

So super unfortunate But that's why they retooled the roster So they still have a, so they'll still have a chance And we'll see what those guys are capable of doing Why Brown is out. Turn every Thursday into payday with TNT Thursdays on Fandul Sportsbook. Doesn't matter if you win or lose. Fan duels given all customers $10 in bonus bets every Thursday.

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Win or lose with TNT Thursdays. Exclusively on Fandul's Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. And it's saying that and speaking of my injury and me getting back and, you know, tonight's game, We are hosting the Trailblazers with Damien Lillard coming in. Dame coming off 71 points on Sunday.

Dame made some comments as of late that I want to touch on, but number one, let's just talk about the 71 point performance. Absolutely incredible. Not surprised at all, as we all know Dame is capable of putting up huge numbers. He's done as his entire career. But Dame made some comments earlier where he said, or not earlier but recently, where he said, you're judged, you know, players are judged by if they win a championship or not,

and people will devalue you based on whether you win a championship or not. So that's, that's, and this is a sum up of his quote, I'm not going word for word, but he said, that's why I want to win one just to really validate everything else that I've done. and I think my initial thought was very true. People definitely devalue what you've done if you don't win a championship. Why is that? Quite frankly, I think in most cases it's warranted.

Like, ultimately we play to win. Like, you play the game. What's the old football commercial? You play to win. Like, you played the game. That's why you play the game. Like, you play the game. to win. And so at the end of the day, yes, you are going to be judged off winning championships.

Now, I don't think that's the only thing. But that is a big part of it. Like, that is what gives validation. That's why you watch T&T inside the NBA and Chuck or Shaq and Kenny are extremely fast to throw out their rings while Chuck sits there and can't have that conversation. Right? Like how, you know, you go into the playoffs and you want to talk about winning championships and what needs to go into it and you can't really talk from experience, it lessens your argument. It lessens the impact of your statements that you're making.

And so to Dane's point, I think at times, you know, at times it does suck because the reality is most people don't have feel and especially feel for the game in basketball. So if you're talking to someone that have field, they can kind to, they can kind of separate the two. Now, you start to get into those weeds and talking about championships and all that, then it's hard to separate the two.

But they can separate the two. And what I mean by that, I can appreciate Dane for everything Dames done. I can appreciate Dane for who he is as a player, how incredible he is, and know that, I mean, at the end of the day, quite frankly, Dame has not played on a championship team. Like, Dame hasn't played on a team anywhere near capable

of winning the championship. He played on the team that made it to the Western Conference Finals. Quite frankly, and a great, that team that Dame played on that made the Western Conference Finals played in the Western Conference today wouldn't sniff the Western Conference Finals. Like, and it's no knock to Dame or CJ, those guys were really doing it.

but the rest of their roster that was not a Western Conference Finals roster, which I think we probably swept them or one in five. We won in five. We played most of those games without Steph. That team wasn't very good. Dame and CJ did a lot of carrying to get that team there. That front office then went and paid all of those guys that was on that team because they thought they were going to be trashed.

They snuck up on everybody and had a decent year and go to the West Conference Finals. And then that front office going to pay all of those guys and leave them in ship for the next three or four years. Dame hasn't played on a championship team. So I can look at that and understand what makes up a championship team and say, yes, Dame hasn't won a championship.

But Dame also hasn't been in a position to win a championship. Now, it's one thing if you've had opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to win championships, and you did it with teams that are capable to win championships and you did it. That's not the case for Dane, but you'll always get lumped into like this overarching group of guys who hasn't won a championship but are great players.

And yes, ultimately, when it boils down to it, if you didn't win, I mean, you do go into that. But basketball minds, People that understand winning championships know that it's so, it's about so much more than just Dane's performance. And Dame has consistently shown you what his performances are going to be, but you still need the right roster around you to win championships. And when the Blazers, I'm not talking about the current Blazers team, I'm talking about the Blazers teams of the past,

when they were like making those playoff runs and they got to the Western Conference, finals. That was not a championship team. Wasn't even a Western Conference finals team. But Dame and CJ stepped up and they did what they had to do. They sent teams home. They sent the teams home that they probably shouldn't have sent home, but they did that. And so you got to get those guys credit. But I agree with Dame. You go win that championship.

It 1,000 percent stamps everything needs done. And anything that anyone has to say, it takes that away. because we all know what his resume is, absolutely incredible resume. Looking forward to us going out there and playing him tonight and making sure he don't get 71 points. Got to make someone else beat you.

You cannot just allow Dane necessarily to beat you. You have, like, if you're in a situation like that, I looked at their stats at halftime. Dame had 41. Jeremy had 10. No one else was in double digits. like, come on, Houston. Like, come on, man.

Like, at least make someone else shoot. I don't even think anyone else was shooting the ball. But shout out the dame on an incredible performance, and I'm looking forward to us trying to put an end to that tonight. But the scoring run that dame has been on as a whole. I think Dames, Kobe at one stretch in 050-06, average, average, like, 40 a game over the course of like 20. something games. Dame is on a similar run, averaging 39 the game over like 20 games or right

around 20 games, which I think is absolutely amazing. We know the player Dame is and it's been great to see him do that. So, time to get ready for this game. I get myself, get in my routine, get going so we can take down these blazers tonight. We really need this win. As I said, We have to really protect our home court because the row has not been too generous to us. So I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. We will be back later this week with an interview, Agent Zero, No Chill, Gil. We got Gilbert Arenas. And as you know, Gilbert is not shy.

He's going to say what he thinks. He's going to say what he feels. And I think it was a great, great interview. I enjoyed it. I hope you all enjoy it. later this week as much as I enjoy hosting the interview and hosting Gilbert Arenas. Great time. See you all back here for that later this week and top of the show next week. Until next time, that's a wrap from the Draymond Green Show. Peace.