Draymond Green is many things to many people. But if someone asked you to describe the man, what would your answer be? If you ask Dray, his reply is more or less the same as eight years ago. “There’s the Draymond Green you see out on the floor,” he said after fumbling to find the right words in a 2016 Bleacher Report article. But that’s not all there is to the now-34-year-old. In his own words, “There’s more. … I put everyone and everything before myself. That’s me.”

It might be hard for at least a few to accept that, particularly after his antics last season. But at the root of it, Draymond Green remains true to what he said above. Although the methods he uses to enforce them leave a lot to be desired. Yet, he is one of the most beloved figures in the Bay Area. And not just because of what he has done for the Warriors.

Understanding Draymond Green through his past

To understand Draymond, the best way perhaps is to go back to the roots. An African-American, Green was born to Mary Babers-Green and Wallace Davis on March 4, 1990, and raised in a working-class family in Saginaw, Michigan. At the time of growing up, Mary was married to Green’s stepfather, Raymond Green, later adopting his surname.

However, this father figure, too, left his life when Dray was 12. It was a pain point for the 4x champion when younger. Until his mother and stepfather separated, Green wasn’t aware of the fact that his biological father was different. During an August episode of The Draymond Green Show, the 2017 DPOY confessed that he was embarassed to let anyone know that the man who everyone knew as his daddy was in fact, not his real father.

In fact, it was too much of a bitter pill to swallow that he refused to form a relationship with Davis until his sophomore year. But once he started playing basketball, it gave him a fresh perspective, confidence to embrace his story, and create an identity. “Through basketball, we can gain confidence in who we are as men. We gain an identity through that. And so I became comfortable enough with who Draymond is that it’s like, ‘Oh, this is my story. It is what it is. Let me embrace this.’,” he said.

But what about that fierce spirit of his?

Dray has his mom to thank for that

If you think Green’s voice is the loudest, that’s because you haven’t met Babers-Green. In the above mentioned BR article, there is an incident where Draymond’s mom had to be restrained, followed by four cops picking her up by her arms and legs, tossing Mary out of one of her son’s middle school game at Arthur Hill High. Apparently, on account of arriving late, she ended up having to sit in the visiting Saginaw High section.

Although it was the wrong place, it did not stop her from cheering for Hill or barking at the refs. Needless to say, it didn’t sit well with a few. One thing led to another, and soon she was being pelted by Peanut M&Ms. The result? A scathing threat. “If you don’t stop throwing those things at me, I’m gonna drag you down the steps!” 

The irony though, was that Draymond Green wasn’t even playing in that game! Interestingly, in a 2015 GQ interview, she revealed that she had a nickname, The Heckler, during her son’s younger days as a basketball player. And getting thrown out of gyms was nothing new to Mary. “I probably got thrown out four or five times. That’s mothering,” she said quite casually.

What’s even more hilarious is that her personality had its upside too. “The [opposing] players didn’t even want to come down to the end where I was because I was talking so much trash.” See where Green gets his thoroughly entertaining trash talk from? But his trash talking wasn’t something the 4x All-Star became good at to get in his opponents’ heads.

Living in Saginaw, one had to learn to stand up for oneself. “You gotta be tough. You gotta know how to trash talk. You can’t cry! Or you the crybaby and nobody wants to be bothered with you,” Mama Green pointed out. But that wasn’t all Mary imparted to her son.

Draymond Green grew up in a Christian household

Perhaps the credit for Green’s faith might rest more on his grandmother. Since second or third grade, Draymond Green’s grandmother encouraged him to slip a piece of paper with Isaiah 54:17 into his shoe or sock before games. The verse reads, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.”

Her message was simple: When you take that court, you stand on that word, she’d tell him. (via Uproxx) Green’s faith clearly runs deep, woven into his game and his everyday life thanks to the foundation set by his grandmother. With each game, he steps onto the court grounded in her message, carrying that powerful verse as a reminder of strength and resilience.

For Green, his faith isn’t just about the rituals. It’s a constant source of guidance, pushing him to give his all, not only as a player but as a person who stands by his values.

A sentiment that Mary Babers-Green echoed when asked how she would describe her son. “He’s that person that wants to be all things to all people.”