BOSTON – Podcaster Draymond Green really disliked any hint of an insinuation his podcast was interfering with his side job as an NBA player for the Golden State Warriors.
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report didn’t really make that insinuation. But when Fischer asked Green last night whether he had to be conscious about revealing on his podcast Xs and Os that could help the Celtics in the NBA Finals, Green really pushed back.
“Nah,” Green said. “I don’t say much different on the podcast than I say to you right here. So, nah. What’s the Xs and Os that I said on the podcast?”
Fischer mentioned Green talking about defending Derrick White, Marcus Smart and Al Horford differently from Game 1 to Game 2.
“Oh, yeah, that was just contesting shots,” Green said. “If that’s Xs and Os, then you’re reaching for something.
“Reaching heavy. The only thing – ‘Do you find that they are taking X’s and O’s away from your podcast?’ ‘Uh, well, the only thing you said is White, Smart and Horford.’ Hmm.”
Fischer said he wasn’t trying to overstate the issue.
“You went for it,” Green continued. “But respect. Appreciate the podcast promo you just gave me, though. ‘The Draymond Green Show.’ Next time just mention it that way.”
Even after another reporter asked the next question, Green returned to the podcast topic with that reporter.
“How much Xs and Os you get from the podcast?” Green said. “Clearly, this guy. I don’t know, man. Maybe that’s the IQ level over this way, s***. Respect.”
Well, Fischer didn’t just manufacture a make-believe storyline.
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report:Make no mistake—several Boston coaches are tuning in to every episode.
Dallas Mavericks staffers at least monitored snippets of the feed for information as well during the Western Conference Finals.
“Especially with the amount of time between Finals games,” one NBA assistant coach told B/R. “Both teams are definitely looking for any small advantage they possibly can.”
Emphasis on small.
Green sometimes discusses strategy on his podcast. But, as he said, he already discusses strategy in press conferences. Players and coaches routinely discuss strategy in press conferences.
Each podcast is another opportunity for Green to say something revealing. But his podcast really sounds similar to an expanded press conference without questions. The media-savvy Green doesn’t need much prompting to delve into interesting soliloquies.
The medium is novel. The content is not.
Opposing teams should listen to his podcast as much as they’d listen to his press conference. I doubt there’s much useful information in either – not for coaches who understand the game so deeply. There are probably better uses of time. But if a lower-level staffer wants to listen just in case, there’s probably no harm.
So, real storyline, but also a minor storyline.
