Draymond Green has evolved into one of the most interesting personalities in the NBA, and perhaps all of sports -- the vocal leader and emotional engine for one of the most compelling NBA teams in recent memory.
Green has agreed to give Marc J. Spears of ESPN's The Undefeated an exclusive look into his life on and off the court, via a playoff diary that Green hopes will end with a second straight NBA championship for the Golden State Warriors.
Diary entry No. 8: May 9, 2016
The Golden State Warriors suffered a 120-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in Portland on Saturday, but the defending champs still own a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven second-round series. Green had 37 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 8 3-pointers, but said he played terrible due to poor defense and leadership.
"I know if we do the things we need to do, follow the game plan, get the loose ball, play to the intensity level that we need to play with, I think we are the better team. [In Game 3], we didn't do that. That falls on my shoulders. I know I will play smarter on the defensive end and with more intensity. If I can get my guys to follow me, I'm very confident that we will win.
"When you look at the game, people are always worried about points. I don't care about scoring. If I score, great. If not, it's not the end all to be all for me. I don't even evaluate my game on if I'm scoring or not. If you look around this league, some people just score a lot and everybody thinks the world of them. But I don't, because I know there is way more to basketball than just scoring. When I look at myself and evaluate my game, I didn't lead my troops tonight and I wasn't very good on the defensive end. When I'm not good in those areas, it hurts us. I don't really worry about 37 points.
"I don't know if both our playoff losses have to do with Game 3. It is something we have to get better at. But the one thing I like about this team is that when we get pissed off we play better. I think we're pissed off. I know I am."
Warriors All-Star guard Stephen Curry has missed the entire series due to a sprained MCL, and he is questionable for Game 4 on Monday.
"I don't really worry about when Steph is coming back. Obviously, I'd love to have him back. We can't worry about it because then it becomes something that's hanging over our head as opposed to us preparing to play the best we possibly can. If he's out there, absolutely we want him back. We look forward to him being back. But we can't prepare that way. We have to prepare to win without him."
Green is a fixture of the postgame playoff podium these days -- a perch reserved for teams' most important and visible stars. It's become a platform for players' individual styles and fashion statements.
"I have a clothing stylist now. I wore mostly suits last season, whereas this season I've been mixing it up a bit more. My stylist is Victor Michel. He does a great job. He's out of L.A. It's something I wanted to try out and it's been great for me. I enjoy it. I love fashion. It keeps me out of the stores -- which is where I always used to be -- which is cool. I actually met him my rookie year and we became close friends. This season I crossed that bridge."