Draymond Green Says Warriors are "Worse" With Him on the Floor

Draymond Green still isn’t back to his normal form and he knows it.

Less than a month removed from his return to the court after a lingering back injury that kept him out for over two months, Green is still feeling the residual effects of his absence. This was on full display after he was a -20 in Golden State’s 123-115 loss to the Washington Wizards Sunday afternoon.

“I’m playing terrible,” Green said after the loss. “I’ve never really been on a team that gets worse when I’m on the floor. That’s kinda where we are right now. Some things I can correct, some things will come with time. That’s just the way it is. We’re definitely worse with me on the floor, that’s for sure.”

Draymond Green has struggled since his return two weeks ago, and he knows it.

"I've never really been on a team that gets worse when I'm on the floor." pic.twitter.com/BtS76NIaTo
— KNBR (@KNBR) March 28, 2022

Before his return to the floor earlier this month, Green had missed 11 weeks and 30 games with a herniated disk. Up until that point, the three-time NBA champion was a front-running candidate for a second Defensive Player of the Year award.

Since his return, however, Green has been a starkly different player. While averaging 2.5 turnovers per game, Green has registered a negative plus-minus stat in four of the six games he’s played.

His worst of which came against the Atlanta Hawks Friday night as he was a game-low -24. Sunday, he followed up that forgettable effort with a -20 against Washington.

“Offensively and defensively, I feel like I’m missing some things,” Green said. “Plays that I normally make on both sides of the ball. It’s not really one specific thing… The game feels like it’s moving at a million miles per hour for me right now.”

While it’s easy for Green to be incredibly critical of his play, it’s important to remember that with the herniated disk, Green was extremely limited in his mobility for nearly a month-and-a-half. In fact, he was unable to even shoot a basketball for the majority of that time.

In the Michigan State product’s eyes, though, that should have no bearing on his approach mentally, especially when he compares his situation to his teammate Klay Thompson, who came back from a torn ACL and Achilles tendon in January.

“Klay was out for two and a half years,” Green said. “He didn’t come back and was like, ‘Oh man, I was out two and a half years, I’m not supposed to be good.’ You’re a competitor and you put in work to be great.

“Regardless of what the circumstances are, I still think and know that I can produce great performances and I have done that,” Green continued. “That’s the expectation for myself.”