Draymond Green put his leadership skills on display! The Golden State Warriors have a unique setup in the Curry-Kerr era. Usually, we find the team’s offensive dominators as the leaders. But here, DrayMagic drives the team on the floor. Of course, Stephen Curry has his way of inspiring his teammates. Tonight, after the victory over the Hornets, Green highlighted his skipper mentality, as he opened up about the locker room tension between Steve Kerr and Brandin Podziemski.

Tonight’s win over the Hornets is one of the most unsettled and out-of-rhythm performances of the Dubs in recent times. Steve Kerr speaking of it after the game, said, “We didn’t have much rhythm… It wasn’t pretty but we did what we had to do.” Especially, the 9x NBA Champ lost his cool at one point and received a technical foul. Ironically, amid this chaos, Brandin Podziemski, who had a few tough games previously, managed to find his rhythm, scoring 19 points with 11 rebounds.

Draymond Green revealed the backstory behind Podz’s return to form at the presser. Everything germinated from one poor performance and a Steve Kerr treatment, as the 4x NBA Champ highlighted, “Steve got on him (Podz) a little bit last game.” It seemed as if Green wasn’t ready to give up on the sophomore guard, as he rallied behind him for every single shot attempt, hyping him up. Notably, there’s a reason behind it, too. It’s a mental battle.

Speaking of it, Green said, “He is a really good shooter, really good basketball player, can be for a long time in this league, but he gets down on him quite a bit.” Moreover, the veteran also highlighted how “second-guessing” has hampered the 22-year-old impact on the floor.

After bluntly revealing his teammate’s trouble, he also had advice for him, saying, “Let that (second-guessing) charge you forward. Let that turn you up more. Let that make you be more decisive because ultimately that’s what Steve is doing it for him… Don’t overthink anything.” Interestingly, Podz has been tangled up in mind games lately. Let’s dig deeper.

Before Draymond Green, Podz learned an important balling IQ lesson

Tonight, at the presser, Draymond Green kept repeating that the team believes in Podziemski, saying, “We all have belief in you but also that belief can’t exceed the belief that you have in yourself.” And he also delivered an important lesson of not ‘overthinking’. Ironically, a few weeks back, Steve Kerr’s advice for him was to ‘think’. 

Speaking about the dip in Podz’s shooting percentage, Coach Kerr earlier said, “Podz is a hell of a player, but he needs to—and I’ve told him this—he needs to be a smart player.” It indirectly meant that he got to apply himself more in the game. Hold on. It’s not over yet.

In late December 2024, Brandin Podziemski again found himself in similar trouble. Responding to a question about playing alongside Stephen Curry, he said, “I don’t think. I just play,” in a post-game presser. It ultimately flared up a lot of backlash from the fans and then he had to respond with a clarification. Guess what he had written on the statement? Podz wrote, “Steph is Steph and I’ve been very open with my respect for him on and off the court. He’s a legend and a [GOAT] for a reason… On the court, you have to be cautious against overthinking every possession.“

So, I am not sure on which page Podz is currently on. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.