Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green recently visited the second annual Klutch Sports NIL Camp. The veteran didn’t hold back in his advice to the next generation of basketball players about the value of playing basketball the right way.
Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports Group hosted the camp. Green is among Paul’s high-profile NBA clients, including Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.
Other players, including Jalen Johnson, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Christian Koloko, joined Draymond Green. During the camp, they played against some of the top-rated high school and college basketball prospects, giving the kids priceless knowledge along the way.
On Sunday, a clip that went viral saw Green admonishing some young players for wanting to get too many three-point shots and complaining too much about every non-call.
“Y’all chasing the game, like all young dudes do. Come down, ‘I need to get a 3,’ and ain’t nobody Steph Curry, but everybody wanna get a 3,” Green said. “Shooting it well, but you took three bad ones in a row, or you took two, and one of y’all took another one. And then, y’all cried about every call that was called.”
Green has gained notoriety for being one of the most unpredictable players in the NBA. Last season alone, the four-time NBA All-Star was charged with 10 technical fouls, four ejections, and two suspensions, which cost him 17 games.
In the same viral clip, he shared with the youngsters the problem of being entitled despite accomplishing so little, as well as the cost of challenging the referees’ ruling.
“I get a lot of techs, so I’m actually [expletive] up on that part, but it’s also cost me $2.5 million dollars, which is more money than probably everybody in here’s parents made that’s not a rich kid,” Green said. “It’s probably 50 times the amount of money my mom made in her life. So, it’ll cost you.”
Green added, “Also, what have y’all done to get calls? I was this close [to] not giving y’all one, and there’s nothing any of y’all can say. So, why are we crying about calls?”
Draymond Green: ‘top rating doesn’t mean anything’
In the continued lecture at the Klutch Sports NIL Camp, Draymond Green also emphasized to the young NBA hopefuls the importance of staying the course without getting too complacent before making it to the league.
As a senior at Saginaw High School, Green ranked 36th in the ESPN 100, with many players ranking ahead of him.
“By the way, everybody is good in high school. Also, I wasn’t high-rated, and all the [expletive] ranked before me, where are they?” Green said.
The power forward outworked most of them on the way to his ongoing success in the NBA. “So, it really doesn’t mean anything. It means you’re good right now, which means you’re more likely to stop working. That’s all it means. So, stop crying about the calls. Play. Play smart,” he added.
With his impassioned lecture, Green hopes to set a proper mindset for the young camp trainees ahead of their prospective NBA aspirations. Only time can answer whether these prospects follow the veteran’s guidance.
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