{"id":96238,"date":"2024-09-17T17:09:34","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T21:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=96238"},"modified":"2024-09-17T17:09:34","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T21:09:34","slug":"jeff-green-the-lebron-james-of-role-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/17\/jeff-green-the-lebron-james-of-role-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Green: The LeBron James of Role Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Houston Rockets’ Jeff Green<\/a> is the LeBron James<\/a> of role players. But will 2024-25 see him lay down his crown? The player who underwent heart surgery<\/a> in his fifth season is now preparing to suit up for his seventeenth (although he only actually played in sixteen on account of, well, heart surgery). He’s been productive on the court in every one of them. At some point though, the role of purely locker-room leader and bench presence will surely call. Will he be ready to play it?<\/p>\n

Jeff Green: The LeBron James of Role Players<\/h2>\n

Green was already supposed to play sparingly<\/a> for the Houston Rockets last season. He did to some extent. Green played the fewest minutes per game of his career at only 16.8. However, he only missed a grand total of four contests. His assignment also became the vitally important role of backup center, one he’s become accustomed to at this point.<\/p>\n

Green’s Role Player Credentials<\/h3>\n

Green has played for so many teams that the first team he ever played for doesn’t even exist anymore. Perhaps recent expansion talks<\/a> will result in the glorious return<\/a> of the Seattle SuperSonics, who Green played for in its final year.<\/p>\n

Since then he’s had stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder (who replaced the Sonics), the Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers, Orlando Magic, and Cleveland Cavaliers (bringing Green to his first NBA finals<\/a> in his lone year there alongside the actual LeBron), Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets (his first stint with his current team was as part of Houston’s micro-ball experiment<\/a>), Brooklyn Nets, and Denver Nuggets (which was his first stay that lasted two full seasons since Boston). Green is therefore a very familiar face around the league. While not all those teams were good, Green was never a reason why they were bad. He primarily occupied a bench role with most of them and was a valuable source of two-way size and athleticism at every stop.<\/p>\n