Memphis Grizzlies Media Day was the first time fans got to hear from Danny Green, a 13-year veteran acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers during the offseason, and he did not disappoint in what he had to say about the upcoming season.
For the uninitiated, Green comes to the team with a loaded resume. He’s a three-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers. He’s a career 39.9% shooter from beyond the arc, and he was a 2016-17 All-Defensive team player.
The 35-year-old is currently recovering from injuries sustained during last season’s playoffs in which he tore two ligaments in his knee. But, he’s very much going to be part of the Grizzlies moving forward, according to GM Zach Kleiman.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Danny Green ready to take this team forward
When Green took the microphone for his session with the media, his answers were tactful and well thought out. After all, he’s had some time to process things since he was traded to the team on draft night back in June. And he had a lot to say, much of it very glowing, including high praise for Desmond Bane.
He told members of the media that his initial discussions with the team when they met up in Las Vegas to watch Summer League action was really positive. He mentioned that he’s heard from former Grizzlies players (including Marc Gasol) that the city and organization is really great, hospitable and always puts the players first.
The Grizzlies are in on Green and Green is in on the Grizzlies. Now, he’s ready to help this team as soon as possible, even if he’s not able to suit up just yet. He’s only been on the team for a red-hot minute, but he’s already identified the biggest weakness in this team’s collective game: maturity, or the lack thereof.
“I was excited to be a part of this group and hopefully make an impact on the younger guys and help this team mature,” Green said.
“I think that’s the only thing that they’re kind of missing. They’re a great group, have a lot of fun. They won a lot of games last year and had some success. I think they’d have more success if, you know, a couple of the pieces play with just a little more maturity,” Green said imparting that sage, veteran wisdom. It was an immediate and very public lesson this young team needs to hear and integrate with how they conduct business during the 2022-23 season and beyond.
If there was ever a doubt as to who this message of maturity was for, Green doubled down on his message. And it was the exact kind of message no one on this team has likely ever heard from a teammate until now (with Steven Adams being the lone possible exception).
“For me,” Green said when asked what a mature Grizzlies team looks like, said “it starts with the off-the-court . I can try to help guide them with some of the things and once they learn to do that, it’ll carry to on the court.”
“A lot of guys, they love to do the social media, the TikToks, the Tweets— if we can, try to limit that a little bit and focus on just staying locked into the game and treating the game the right way,” he said.
But, Green is not the fun police. He’s just being honest and speaking from experience, of which he has a career’s worth. He’s all about having fun when the time is right, of course.
“We love to have fun, but the basketball gods will turn on you if you celebrate too early. Acting like you’ve been there and realizing you haven’t done anything yet— regardless of how many games you won in the regular season— if you haven’t won a championship, there’s nothing to really celebrate. My focus is on keeping them with that mentality for the whole season: job’s not done,” Green said.
Morant and Jackson, more so than any other Grizzlies players, love to trash talk, have fun on social media and dance on the sidelines. It doesn’t take a Woj or Shams to figure out who Green’s first conversations will be with as training camp begins.
It became even more apparent when Ja Morant came out to the media scrum immediately after Green with a diamond-studded grill, snapping photos with a camera he borrowed from team personnel and bringing an overall lighthearted tone to his Media Day session.
All of that is fine and well, but once the season rolls around, Green is going to make sure these young stars are locked in, playing the game like a team with championship aspirations.
Change starts at the top and for Morant to take that next step in his journey as a leader, he’s going to have to lead by example and set his team on a course that’s ready to silence their notifications, go into airplane mode and let their game do the talking.
The addition of Danny Green on the Memphis Grizzlies is going to be one of the most underrated acquisitions of the offseason.