The Game That Shook Draymond’s Confidence: Draymond Green Reveals the Shocking Truth Behind His Shooting Struggles

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There are many contributing factors as to why the Golden State Warriors built a dynasty. From top to bottom, the entire club was clicking. They built through the draft, building a core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Now, the franchise is playing with older versions of Curry and Green, while Thompson is sporting a Dallas Mavericks jersey, the first time in his NBA career he’s worn a non-Warriors jersey. They aren’t quite the same team they used to be, but they’re still trying to squeeze out one more title with Curry at the helm.

There current woes don’t take away from the dominance the trio provided during their prime in the 2010s era. For Green, though, there was one key moment that destroyed his confidence for years.

Green details one moment that shattered his confidence in his career

Green is a lot of things for the Warriors. He’s a physical, stout defender who isn’t afraid to set the tone in any give game. Offensively, he’s a great screen-setter and playmaker within the Warriors’ system. He leans into his high IQ, which helps the team overall and provides coaching on the court.

The Michigan State product was essential to the team’s success during their dynasty, even with the arrival of Kevin Durant during the 2016 offseason. There is one hole to his game, however, and it got even worse after one moment in the NBA Finals.

During the 2016 NBA Finals, the Warriors let the Cleveland Cavaliers complete a 3-1 series comeback to make history and determine an NBA champion. Green scored 32 points while going 6-of-8 on 3-pointers, though it was the worst thing that could have happened to him, as he revealed on “The Draymond Green Show” with then-Cavliers coach Ty Lue on as a guest.

“My mindset ends up turning into, ‘Well, they want me to take this shot, because I just had 35 in Game 7, and we lost.’ So then I stopped shooting,” Green recalled. “Because I’m like, ‘They want me to take this shot.’

“In turn, I then spent two-and-a-half years with zero confidence in my shot. And just DHOing [dribble hand off] and finding creative ways to get Steph and Klay involved because I didn’t want to shoot because I lost all the confidence.”

The Cavaliers intentionally let Green shoot. They let him have good, quality looks, which he knocked down. However, as he mentioned to Ty Lue, who was the Cavaliers’ coach at the time, this ruined his confidence because that’s what Lue and Cleveland wanted, which led to the Warriors’ loss.