Draymond Green was a top-five player in the NBA this year, yet in the 2012 NBA Draft he came out of, it took 35 picks before the Golden State Warriors selected him. Athletes will spend their entire careers using draft snubs to motivate them, using the draft pick or the number of players picked before them as inspiration. But Draymond takes it one step further: he knows every player selected before him.
Draymond Green hasn’t forgotten the 34 players picked instead of him in the 2012 NBA Draft
If you picked someone else instead of Draymond Green in 2012, he can tell you how big of a mistake you made.
"First was Anthony Davis to New Orleans," he says. "Then Charlotte took (Michael) Kidd-Gilchrist. Then Washington took Bradley Beal. Fourth was Cleveland: Dion Waiters.
"Eight was Toronto: Terrence Ross ...
"Sixteen was Houston: Royce White ...
By the time he's done, Green has reeled off the names of all 34 players selected ahead of him and the corresponding team.
In order.
Besides the Draymond part of this, which is amazing but also not so surprising since his mind and his ability to remember plays is one of his best skills on the basketball court, there’s two things about this. First, yes, there are good reasons why Green fell. That doesn’t mean he can’t be mad about it, and there’s no doubt he should have gone higher, but no one could have predicted Green turning into an All-NBA first-teamer with the collection of skills he had coming out of Michigan State. The exact skills that were supposed to hurt him -- between positions, a shot that wasn’t good enough, and being slightly older -- have been his biggest strengths for the Warriors.
Second, with all that said, wow at some of the names taken before him.
27. Arnett Moultrie to the Heat (played just 59 games)
31. Jeffery Taylor to the Bobcats (didn’t score 1,000 points)
32. Tomas Satoransky to the Wizards (never played in the NBA)
33 and 34. Bernard James and Jae Crowder to the Mavericks (two chances at Green and they didn't pick him with either)
Whoops.
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