Draymond Green’s antics led to a suspension in Game 5 of last year’s NBA Finals, something the fiery All-Star says “woke” him up.
Green considers the pivotal suspension a defining moment in his career, and says it changed him for the better.
ICYMI, Draymond Green reflects on Game 5 suspension, a life-changing night at the A's game, & how he's different now https://t.co/q3X7QBhwtf pic.twitter.com/vvFqCVGVmW
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) June 4, 2017
Warriors general manager Bob Myers sat with Green as they helplessly watched Cleveland win Game 5 on their way to the championship, and thinks the 27-year-old is now “confining his intensity in a more narrow lane.”
Per USA Today:
The Warriors’ emotional leader is doing the seemingly impossible, retaining the intensity that helps fuel them all while avoiding the recklessness that once sparked their unprecedented demise. And that night, when Green went to the A’s game hoping to run across the way and celebrate a title with his teammates if they had won it all without him, has everything to do with it.
“I’ll never forget that night,” Green said. “That’s a big night in my life. It’s something that changed me. It’s something that woke me up. It’s something that taught me a lot, so I appreciate it. I’m not one of those guys who’s like bitter that something bad happens to me. I use it, take the lesson from it, and move on.
“You go through certain things in life, and you grow. You learn to appreciate different things. You just really learn from mistakes that you made. I think the most important thing is just growth, in (and of) itself, and just understanding what’s in front of you. Never making the same mistakes twice.”
