There’s so many reasons why I like Golden State Warrior Draymond Green. This week, he gave me another reason to add to the list.
Still off the heels of the tip-off of the WNBA’s 20th season, Draymond Green made headlines this week after praising the WNBA for its fundamentals. In the feature story of this month’s issue of Sports Illustrated Draymond talked to Lee Jenkins about what he takes away from watching the women’s game during his down time:
“In the NBA there’s always a guy who is only around because he can jump,” Green says. “He doesn’t have a clue about the fundamentals. I learn more from the WNBA. They know how to dribble, how to pivot, how to use the shot fake.”
It seems to be paying off pretty nicely. Green averaged 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game last season and is well on his way to achieving more as the Warriors are in the Western Conference Finals and possibly on their way to NBA title #2.
Draymond isn’t the only NBA player who has praised the women’s game. Knicks’ guard Jerian Grant recently wrote an awesome essay for The Player’s Tribune where he shared his memories of watching his fellow Fighting Irish women’s basketball team during his year’s playing for Notre Dame. Many NBA players are often seen court side during the summer cheering on the women or even practicing with some of the players while picking up a few techniques to add to their repertoire.
Make no mistake that the WNBA has fans right in the NBA. Seeing this kind of support during a monumental year is beautiful!
(Original Story: Sports Illustrated)
