Draymond's Latest Rant on “The Shop” Was Not Accurate

Draymond Green has never been one to hold back when something’s on his mind, and that was certainly on full display on HBO’s latest episode of “The Shop.”

Draymond joined Tom Brady, Kid Cudi, Chelsea Handler and Paul Rivera for a discussion about the grind of winning, charting one's own path, mental health and sports media. At one point in the episode, Handler mentioned how she believes the ability to deputize is one of the real signs of a leader, which sent Green off into an NSFW rant about the criticism he receives for not shooting enough:

“... Just like listening to people and what they say, and the criticism, it actually shows you how f---ing stupid people are through their criticism. For instance, people say, 'Draymond you should shoot!' But if I can get Steph Curry the ball for a f---ing shot, why would I shoot?! You're actually a f---ing idiot for thinking I should shoot, because I can get him the shot and if he's half open, it's better than anyone else in the world -- if he's half open!"

In theory, Draymond certainly isn’t wrong. If you could get Steph Curry, the greatest 3-point shooter of all time, an open shot, why shoot? The problem is: Steph doesn’t get many open shots at all, yet he still makes them.

According to BBall Index, Steph Curry’s floor spacing this year ranked at 5%, which was the lowest amount of spacing among NBA stars in non-garbage time minutes. Kawhi Leonard and Devin Booker had the most spacing, with 99% and 93% respectively, and the higher the number, the better. Including garbage time, only 33 active players in the whole NBA have worse average spacing than Curry, and guess what? None of them played as many minutes as Curry, nor were any of them among the NBA's leading scorers.

One of the biggest reasons that Steph has no spacing, (and, frankly, one of the biggest reasons the Warriors did not have a better record this year) is because of Draymond Green’s lack of shooting skills, and the stats don’t lie. The Warriors were 20-5 this past year when Draymond scored only eight points or more, and they’re 260-78 overall when he scores that many points in his career. Additionally, since Draymond has been on the Warriors roster, the team has a 48-6 record when he makes 3+ three-pointers in a game, and they’re 116-24 when he makes 2+ three-pointers.

So, we know that the Warriors are good when Draymond makes shots, but what if the attempts are high and the scoring efficiency is low? When Draymond is aggressive with his shots— if he doesn’t make them at a high rate—the Warriors have always benefitted. The Warriors are 127-41 when Draymond attempts 10+ shots a game. They’re 65-21 when he attempts 12+ shots per game, and they’re 33-13 even when he has attempted 14+ shots per game.

Now, granted, most of the wins in these stats came when Kevin Durant was on the team, which was also during the time Draymond’s shooting percentages were still at a respectable level. Nevertheless, the fact remains that when Draymond looks to score, the Warriors benefit.

Historically, Steph Curry’s efficiency isn’t even that much better when Draymond Green is on the floor with him. In 554 games with Draymond Green in his career, Steph is averaging 26.2 points, 6.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 47.7% from the field and 43.2% from three-point range. In 28 games without Draymond, Steph has averaged 27.8 points, 6.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 48.5% from the field and 42.9% from three-point range.

The sample size is way lopsided, but Steph’s stats with and without Draymond aren’t very different at all, which is interesting. In fact, his numbers and efficiency have actually been better when Draymond hasn’t played, but I highly doubt that would be the case if Steph played the same amount of games with Draymond as he did without him.

Even with all of these specific stats, however, one of the reasons Steph has had any space at all during his career is also because of Draymond Green. The on-court chemistry that the two have is unlike any other in the NBA, and there’s no telling how many games the Warriors would have lost— even when Draymond failed to score eight points or more—because of Draymond’s incredible passing, vision, defensive prowess and overall tenacity.

The bottom line is that Draymond Green, as a player for the Warriors, is a double-edged sword. The goods the Warriors get with him are some of the best any player in the NBA has to offer, but the bads can really sink the team at times. His fire and passion for the game is what propelled the Warriors to win three championships, but that same thing, along with his lack of scoring, also might be a reason they don’t have at least one more.

It could be true that I’m just another stupid critic; a critic that prompted Draymond to rant, which, in turn, inspired this article. There are probably so many things that I don’t see on the court or even notice, for that matter, that Draymond does to benefit the team. But, what I do know is that when Draymond (a perennial DPOY candidate and future hall-of-famer) is unwilling to shoot or score during the course of the game, it doesn’t help the team—it hurts them. And the facts don’t lie.