The summer of Draymond Green continues to be weird. From losing in the NBA Finals and maybe the biggest reason the Golden State Warriors collapsed, to being charged by the police for hitting someone, to his social media failure, sending a photo of his penis not to the woman it was intended to, but to everyone on Snapchat.
Yes, it’s a wonderful life for Green. However, things aren’t going as smooth as they should. A record breaking season that further established him as one of the best jack-of-all-trades players in the NBA, he didn’t have the best of postseasons, exposed in difficult matchups (especially in the conference finals and the NBA finals), exposed for being a very dirty player (even more than before), and eventually getting suspended (Deservedly) in what helped flip the entire momentum of the final series.
Green keeps repeating the same thing: I’m learning from the experience, these mistakes only make me stronger, will make me better. Maybe he’s right. The Olympics won’t be an indication, because the individual roles are limited, and either way, the only thing anyone will notice is if Team USA doesn’t win gold, and easily. The real test will be once the 2016-2017 NBA season begins. Green will have more eyes on him than ever before.
One thing on the court that is of some concern is that Green is no longer the lovable bully. Last year’s finals changed that. Things he got away with during the regular season for sweet talking the referees? They won’t be easy to pull off anymore. Sure, there are always the theories about the NBA wanting the Warriors to do well, hence how difficult it was for Green to get suspended until he did the same thing over, and over again. But maybe he’ll be more of a target for referees looking to show that they’re in control. It’s surprising he wasn’t an easy target before, but sometimes fans don’t see things the way people working on the court do.
This doesn’t mean Green is headed towards a fall. He’s still a very good, very smart player. He’s simply been through some weird incidents, and a finals collapse. Maybe he’s strong enough mentally to show everything blows by him without leaving a dent. However, if suddenly sharing the load with another offensive juggernaut while dealing with more attention leads to some sort of decline, don’t act surprised when it happens.