{"id":76880,"date":"2024-05-10T09:51:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T13:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=76880"},"modified":"2024-05-10T09:51:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T13:51:37","slug":"draymond-green-backs-teammate-as-leagues-best-point-guard-podcast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/10\/draymond-green-backs-teammate-as-leagues-best-point-guard-podcast\/","title":{"rendered":"Draymond Green Backs Teammate as League\u2019s Best Point Guard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greendr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Draymond Green<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a> have been teammates with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/06\/nba-free-agency-klay-thompson-eyeing-magic\/\" target=\"_self\">Golden State Warriors<\/a> for 12 seasons now. They have been together for four championship seasons.<\/p>\n<p>The 2023-24 season wasn\u2019t a banner one for Golden State. They did not advance to the playoffs after being eliminated by the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the subpar year by their standards, it shouldn\u2019t be surprising that Green is still backing his longtime teammate when it comes to the point guard hierarchy.<\/p>\n<h2>Draymond Green Backs Teammate as League\u2019s Best Point Guard<\/h2>\n<h3>Still Believes Curry is the Best<\/h3>\n<p>On his podcast, Draymond Green was answering mailbag questions from viewers. One of the questions asked to Green was if he believed that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brunsja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Brunson<\/a> is the game\u2019s best point guard now with his incredible playoff scoring exploits.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\u201cHas [Jalen Brunson] become the best point guard in the NBA with his performances in the playoffs so far?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Draymond Green: \u201cF*ck no. Steph Curry in the NBA. Dude, are you crazy? What? Come on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>(via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheVolumeSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TheVolumeSports<\/a>)<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/t0JsIz5zis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/t0JsIz5zis<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ClutchPoints\/status\/1788704972927807984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nThe 34-year-old Green is clearly quite adamant that Curry still belongs on top of the list.<\/p>\n<p>While it was a disappointing season for the Warriors, Curry was still rather productive. The 36-year-old played in 74 games posting averages of 26.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. He led the league in three-pointers made (357) for the eighth time while connecting on them at a 40.8% clip.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s admirable that Green is backing his teammate, he is obviously biased. He also mentions how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai-Gilgeous Alexander<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a> play the point guard position. They finished second and third respectively <a href=\"https:\/\/ftw.usatoday.com\/2024\/05\/2024-nba-mvp-voting-results-nikola-jokic-third-career-award\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in MVP voting<\/a> as their teams battle it out in the second round. Brunson finished fifth in voting while Curry didn\u2019t receive any votes.<\/p>\n<h3>Brunson Lighting Up the Playoffs<\/h3>\n<p>Was the person who asked if Brunson is the best at his position being a prisoner of the moment? Perhaps. The fact that it can at least be debated shows how far he has come since joining the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n<p>In the 2022 offseason, the now 27-year-old Brunson signed a four-year, $104 million deal to join New York. The contract was nearly universally panned by pundits. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brunsri01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rick Brunson<\/a>, Jalen\u2019s father, is an assistant coach on the team and many believed he was overpaid in large part due to his dad being around.<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward less than two years, and the tides have completely turned. Instead of being seen as overpaid, Brunson is now seen as the opposite. He is now seen as a max-contract player. The 2025-26 season on his deal is a player option for $24.96 million which in all likelihood will be declined.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Brunson\u2019s Knicks own a 2-0 series lead over the Indiana Pacers. New York defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the opening round.<\/p>\n<p>In the eight playoff games this season, Brunson is averaging an absurd <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/09\/jalen-brunson-surpasses-knicks-scoring-champ-in-playoff-points\/\" target=\"_self\">35.6 points per game<\/a>. The sixth-year pro averaged 28.7 points in the regular season, good for fourth on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/leaders?StatCategory=PTS&amp;PerMode=PerGame\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NBA leaderboard<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Brunson is one of many fabulous point guards currently in the league. Along with Curry, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Doncic, there is also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/foxde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murraja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jamal Murray<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/halibty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Haliburton<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hardeja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Harden<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngtr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trae Young<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maxeyty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Maxey<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moranja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ja Morant<\/a> to name a few.<\/p>\n<p>Draymond Green\u2019s podcast often brings on debate, and this is just another instance of it doing so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Draymond Green and Stephen Curry have been teammates with the Golden State Warriors for 12 seasons now. They have been together for four championship seasons. The 2023-24 season wasn\u2019t a banner one for Golden State. They did not advance to the playoffs after being eliminated by the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament. Despite the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5060,"featured_media":76899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,1608,62,12,3],"tags":[1417,1133,1489,48],"class_list":["post-76880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-warriors","category-basketball","category-nba","category-knicks","category-news","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-luka-doncic","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-stephen-curry"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}