Draymond Green

Draymond Green established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) most versatile and driven power forwards in just five years of remarkable play with the Golden State Warriors. Born Draymond Jamal Green in Saginaw, Michigan, he was the son of Wallace Davis and Mary Babers, who separated when Green was twelve. As a junior at Saginaw High School, he averaged 25 points and 13 rebounds, and helped lead the team to the Class A State Championship. Green signed a letter of intent to play for Michigan State University in 2007, and wrapped his high school career with a 20-point average and 13 rebounds, which helped place him at No. 36 on ESPN's list of the 150 top college-bound players. Green started slowly during his first year at Michigan, averaging 3.3 points a game, but rose to 8.5 points during the school's run for the NCAA Championship in 2009. He bested his highest average the following year, averaging 9.9 points with 7.7 rebounds, and became the first Michigan State player to be named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year; in his junior year, Green was averaging 12.6 points a game and became the third player in Michigan State history to record a triple-double (double-digits in three statistical categories), a feat he repeated during the NCAA tourney against UCLA. Green was named captain in his senior year, and led the Spartans to Big Ten regular season and tournament championships; he was subsequently named Big Ten Player of the Year and joined Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson as the third NCAA player in history to record two career triple-doubles during an NCAA tourney. Green capped his Michigan State career with more than 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, and was selected 35th overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 2012 NBA Draft. His first-year outing was modest, but his sophomore season was a vast improvement, with a career-high 20 points and 12 rebounds and formidable defense during the Warriors' first-round playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers. Green's breakout season came in 2014, when he was promoted to starting power forward to replace the ailing David Lee; he soon posted 13.3 points per game, including a 31-point game in December. He earned his first NBA triple-double (16 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists) in January 2015, and became the sixth player in NBA history to record a triple-double in a winning finals game, which helped propel the Warriors over the Cleveland Cavaliers for Green's first championship title. The launch of the new season saw Green propel the Warriors to their first ever 10-0 win; his average of 11.9 points and 7.7 rebounds, as well as a team-high 6.6 assists, minted him as a Western Conference reserve for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game. His advance to the upper echelon of the NBA continued with his historic record of 1,000 points and 500 assists in a season and 13 triple-doubles, besting both team and league records, as well as a gold medal during the 2016 Summer Olympics. But Green's brashness, which had endeared him to the press, appeared to get the better of him during the Western Conference finals that year, when he recorded four flagrant finals, including a physical confrontation with LeBron James that earned him a suspension in the fifth game. But Green returned to form for the 2016-2017, recording his 16th triple-double and a season-best game of 20 points and 15 rebounds.