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’t 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 subpar year by their standards, it shouldn’t be surprising that Green is still backing his longtime teammate when it comes to the point guard hierarchy.
Draymond Green Backs Teammate as League’s Best Point Guard
Still Believes Curry is the Best
On his podcast, Draymond Green was answering mailbag questions from viewers. One of the questions asked to Green was if he believed that Jalen Brunson is the game’s best point guard now with his incredible playoff scoring exploits.
“Has [Jalen Brunson] become the best point guard in the NBA with his performances in the playoffs so far?”
Draymond Green: “F*ck no. Steph Curry in the NBA. Dude, are you crazy? What? Come on.”
(via @TheVolumeSports)pic.twitter.com/t0JsIz5zis
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 9, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The 34-year-old Green is clearly quite adamant that Curry still belongs on top of the list.
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.
While it’s admirable that Green is backing his teammate, he is obviously biased. He also mentions how Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and Luka Doncic play the point guard position. They finished second and third respectively in MVP voting as their teams battle it out in the second round. Brunson finished fifth in voting while Curry didn’t receive any votes.
Brunson Lighting Up the Playoffs
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.
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. Rick Brunson, Jalen’s father, is an assistant coach on the team and many believed he was overpaid in large part due to his dad being around.
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.
Currently, Brunson’s Knicks own a 2-0 series lead over the Indiana Pacers. New York defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the opening round.
In the eight playoff games this season, Brunson is averaging an absurd 35.6 points per game. The sixth-year pro averaged 28.7 points in the regular season, good for fourth on the NBA leaderboard.
Brunson is one of many fabulous point guards currently in the league. Along with Curry, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Doncic, there is also De’Aaron Fox, Jamal Murray, Tyrese Haliburton, James Harden, Damian Lillard, Trae Young, Tyrese Maxey, and Ja Morant to name a few.
Draymond Green’s podcast often brings on debate, and this is just another instance of it doing so.
The post Draymond Green Backs Teammate as League’s Best Point Guard appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.