Draymond Green Can’t Blame Coaching For Not Getting Buckets

We react to Draymond Green saying Steve Kerr made him who he is while also claiming Kerr held back his offensive ceiling. We break down why that argument does not match Draymond’s scoring history and why taking shots at Austin Rivers ignores context, opportunity, and what it takes to last in the NBA. 

• Draymond’s “no plays since 2016” claim and what it implies about offensive roles 
• Why we do not buy the idea that Kerr “hindered” a player never known as a scorer 
• College production and draft position as clues to how players get labeled 
• How four-year players often project as NBA role players rather than primary scorers 
• Why Austin Rivers’s 11-year career undercuts the “bailout” narrative 
• Lottery pick second chances, roster context, and why fit and timing matter 
• The bigger question of skill versus situation on championship teams 

please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show.

Transcript

Welcome And Today’s Target

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show, Get a Bucket. I'm your host, Train as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. And if you wonder where you heard this from, that's because you've been listening to me Monday through Friday at 11 o'clock a.m. Eastern Standard Time. So I apologize for the redundancy. But as you know, we're talking about getting the buckets all the time. So again, ladies and gentlemen, what are we going to be talking about today? Because again, we always talking about different topics. Well, today I'm going to be talking about Draymond Green's absurd statements about Steve Kurz and his outlandish reaction to Austin Rivers. Now, before we start about the Austin Rivers conversation, let's talk about what Draymond Green has said about Steve Kerr. Off top, he did say, I'm not who I am today without Steve Kerr. So kudos on him having some sense, right? But then he also said a part of me thinks he's hindered me in my career and what I could have become. I have not had a play in our playbook run for me since 2016. It's now 2026. I think it's fair to say if they ain't have an offensive set ran for you, maybe you're just not an offensive player. And keep in mind, you're he Draymond Green went at Austin Rivers, right, in his career. But Austin Rivers has been more of a scorer, in my opinion, over there. Like, don't get me wrong, Draymond Green's NBA career is better than Austin Rivers' career. But yeah, let's date this back to college, right? Because everyone was a high was a scorer in high school. Like again, Pat Bev was a scorer in high school. Like, high school is different than college and NBA, obviously. So when we're talking about college, right, and Draymond Green is known as a get it out in the mud player. Meanwhile, Austin Rivers is looked at as someone who got a handout. Okay. Draymond was a four-year player. Austin Rivers came out his freshman year. You know what I'm saying? Now let's let's mention their freshman year stats. Draymond Green, three points, three rebounds. Let's round up to one assist, 0.6 steals, two blocks, right? Austin Rivers, 16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal. Like that's what they did their freshman seasons in college, ladies and gentlemen. Austin Rivers has been known as a scorer, hence why he got drafted as a lottery pick, number 10. Meanwhile, Draymond Green got drafted, what? Shoot, I forgot. In the 30s, 40s, that's second round, ladies and gentlemen. Again, Hall of Fame career, not viewed as a scorer. Even his senior season, I can't even say he was viewed as a scorer. Did he have he averaged 16 points? Cool. But his versatility was the real reason why he got drafted. To be clear, his heart, his effort, his emotion, like that's the reason why Draymond Green got drafted. Now, Draymond was fortunate to be a system in a successful system, to be clear. He had the two greatest shooters in NBA's history, Steph and Clay, right? You also had Kevin Durant. You had a bevy of players. Question. If you felt like Steve Kerr really hindered your career, then why was it when there was no Steph, no Klay, no KD? Like, how come you didn't score more? Like, let's just start there. Like, how come you didn't decide to just pop your shit and go off for like 15, 20 points? Keep in mind, I think the most points that Draymond Green has ever averaged in his career was 15. Like, come on now, buddy. Come on now, dude. But you say that Steve Kerr hindered your career. Again, you've had opportunities to showcase that. We've seen Austin Rivers average 12 and 15 points respectfully. In back-to-back seasons. But you're saying that you couldn't pop your stuff. And again, you had the ability because you had already had success with the team. You were viewed as the leader of the team. So you mean tell me you couldn't shoot more? Oh, you were trying to prepare the young bucks for getting ready for when Steph and them came back. No, fool, you could have just actually shot a little bit more. Y'all were going for the draft. Y'all were going for the lottery anyways. So you might as well have just played offense and seen what you could have done. Now, keep in mind, I said Draymond Green has never been a scorer dating back to the college days, right? And for me as a four-year player, respectfully, we have higher expectations of you scoring, champ. We really, truly do. And like, I'm looking at you getting 16 points your senior year, 13 points your junior year. Austin Rivers averaged 16 points again, rounding up, but still 16 points rounding up. And it took you four years to get there. Four-year players don't really aren't, they're not really viewed as scorers. They're now they're going to be viewed as role players. And this is a new day and age. Back in the day, maybe it's a little bit different. Like JJ Reddick, for example, right? He he was a four-year player. He wasn't necessarily viewed as a scorer in the NBA though. Shooter. How about someone like Cole Aldridge, right? Came out of Kansas. Four-year player, if I'm not mistaken. Never wants a score. Psycho T, who actually was scoring in college at his freshman year. I was still a rookie year. I'm still disgusting that a freshman year, I'm sorry. Still disgusted that he scored what he did, did what he did against Duke. But that's another discussion for another day. Never viewed as a score in the NBA. Nolan Smith, same thing. He went to Duke. I know what y'all are saying. I'm biased, right? Because all the other two. Fine, I'll bring up some Duke players. Kyle Singler, known as a score at Duke, not at, not like, not in the NBA. John Shire, not a scorer in the NBA, but he was at Duke. Sheldon Williams, four-year player, easily at Duke, not at the NBA. Michael Beniger, he was alright, four-year player. He even left Duke to go to Syracuse. Played nine games in the NBA. Again, these are role players we're talking about, ladies and gentlemen. Hell, even Grayson Allen, who his freshman year did well in the championship game for us in 2015, is a role player in the NBA, not a scorer. He's a shooter. So again, ladies and gentlemen, as we get older, as we see these players stay in college, the longer you stay, the higher the chance of you becoming a role player in the NBA. Could you exceed that role? Possibly. But that's going to be very hard to do, in all honesty. And let's keep in mind, too, Draymond, again, you were in a really good situation. We cannot belittle someone like Austin Rivers for pointing out facts. Because we can say that we, you know, one, Pelicans were worse than the Warriors. Two, it was a little, it could have been viewed, could have been a toxic situation for someone like Austin Rivers. Also as a guard, he's probably not going to usurp Drew Holiday, Eric Gordon, and Tyreek Evans initially, too. There's a world where you could have actually usurped Harrison Barnes, but Harrison Barnes got drafted pretty high. David Lee was on the way out. He was older. Andre Iguidala, yeah, you probably not can usurp him. And y'all both were playing small forward. But again, because of your versatility, you were able to carve out a role for yourself. Well, so did Austin Rivers. And we can't say that he got handed a bailout because, again, it sounds like other teams were interested in Austin Rivers. Also, how often do lottery picks not get a second or third chance in the NBA? One person that comes to mind is like Johnny Flynn, right? Johnny Flynn, sixth pick, I forget what year it was. Let's go somewhere between 2007 and 2009, right? Sixth pick. Only reason why he didn't get another chance because he injured his hip and that messed up his jump in the build. It messed up his athleticism a little bit. Because remember, Johnny Flynn was a dog in Syracuse, and he was also McDonald's all-American. Like Buddy could hoop, he can get a bucket. But because of his injury, that derailed his career. It wasn't because of his play. Then we got to think about someone like Killian Hayes. I've heard so much Killian Hayes slander. I feel bad for Buddy. Hell, a matter of fact, I got family with the last name of Hayes, so he might even be kinfolk. And I sometimes go to bat for him like he's kinfolk. Like it's disgusting. But he's even, he's on his third team right now. And people say he's trash. Trash. But again, he's gotten another opportunity. He's been in the league for a couple of seasons now. And I don't mean a couple is in two. I mean a couple is in at least five. So again, ladies and gentlemen, as a lottery pick, you get multiple opportunities. And to be clear, Austin Rivers actually deserved his paper. We can say that yes, Austin Rivers was lucky to be part of the 2016 class that got a contract extension. But we can't say the same thing about Draymond Green landing in the perfect situation for him. Because how many times do players land in the perfect situation? Like, how often does that actually occur? It doesn't happen all the time. It's quite rare, to be clear. So again, ladies and gentlemen, when we're listening to Draymond Green, we gotta really remember what happened. Saying that Steve Kerr, part of him thinks that Steve Kerr hindered his career and what he could have become. Well, if we gave Draymond Green the keys, or if we let Draymond Green be more of an offensive player, do the Warriors in fact become a four-time champion? The answer is I don't think so. Because again, he's never once been known as a scorer. Did he improve his scoring at Michigan State? Yes, he did. No, he did. Like, I'll give I will give Buddy credit. He genuinely, truly did, right? Did we win a championship? I don't think so. So again, ladies and gentlemen, can we say then that Draymond Green should have had a more scoring role? Especially when the time that he could have had a higher scoring role, he chose not to do it. He chose not to do that. Like you could have shot the ball a little bit more, Chant. You really could have. But if you're not gonna shoot the ball more, if you're not trying to get a bucket, can we really say that, you know, someone like your coach hindered your career? Now, the defensive player, very stout. Playmaker, quality. Leader, vocal leader, yeah. He's all those things. Hall of Fame career, of course. But the one thing we cannot say is Draymond Green is a known bucket getter. He had a quality game seven, right in the playoffs, finals, heard you. Could have been finals MVP, heard you. Get you. Understand. But ladies and gentlemen, we cannot say that Draymond Green was ever viewed as a scorer. So we cannot say that any part of you thinks that your coach hindered you, Draymond. We can't. We cannot say that you should be going at Austin Rivers. Because one, Austin Rivers and you were in the media. So if somebody's gonna make a statement, the other person has all the right to talk about it. But we can't start getting emotional and personal and start trying to belittle someone else's career. Because it's not like Austin Rivers didn't have a quality career. He played 11 seasons in the NBA. And again, I'm not being biased. Hell, the average, the average life, the average length of an NBA career is like five, five years. And Austin Rivers actually doubled that, and then some. By like one season, but still, and then some. So again, he's a little bit out of pocket, meaning Draymond. Could Austin Rivers have just let something go? Sure. I hear that. But you hear me, and I'm saying it was outlandish for Draymond Green to say that. So if I'm saying that and I ain't even playing the NBA, Austin Rivers, someone who's played in the NBA, someone who's like had contract extension conversations, someone who's played at the highest level, someone who's been a diaper dandy in high school and college. How come he couldn't say it? He was there. He's been there. And then for Draymond Green to say that, oh, you got bailed out, not quite, champ. Like again, other teams were interested in Austin Rivers. People are saying that, oh, Austin Rivers got the boot from the Celtics. Well, to be clear, they also had a bunch of guards. So if you make that statement, again, I don't think you understand the context of the game. They had a bunch of guards. Maybe they just needed the money to work. Maybe that was the case. But other teams were interested in Austin Rivers, but he would have got picked up if the Clippers didn't get him, to be clear. So again, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'm curious what you all think. Because y'all heard my take. Is Draymond Green out of pocket? Or is he spitting actual factuals right now? I'd love to hear your thoughts. But personally, I think he's full of crap. And we gotta act, we we can't act like timing and luck don't factor in into the NBA. I mean, Kobe was lucky to get Shaq, Shaq was lucky to get Kobe. Pippen was lucky to get Jordan, Jordan was lucky to get Pippen, and Phil Jackson was lucky to have both pairs of duos. But I get it though. I get it though. I hear you, Draymond. I hear you. So again, ladies and gentlemen, please let me know what y'all think about Draymond's outlandish statements. Do y'all feel like they are outlandish, crazy, stupid, foolish, whatever you want to call them? Or do you think they're factual? Good. On point. However, you want to classify it. I'm curious your thoughts. But that does conclude the end of the episode. So, ladies and gentlemen, please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Shay. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. I hope you are all having a good one. Take care.