Where Warriors' Draymond Green Redrafts Himself In His Star-studded 2012 Class

Where Warriors' Draymond Green redrafts himself in his star-studded 2012 class originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Draymond Green has been waiting years to settle this argument on his own terms.

The Warriors forward used his podcast “The Draymond Green Show” to redraft the loaded 2012 NBA Draft class — and rather than simply ranking players by name recognition, Green laid out the criteria first.

“On my redraft, I’m redrafting off body of work,” Green said. “That’s individual accolades, that’s team accolades, and the whole thing mixed together.”

By that standard, Green kept the top two spots unchanged from the actual draft. Anthony Davis stayed at No. 1 overall, with Green pointing to his inclusion on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, a championship and nine All-Star selections. Damian Lillard held at No. 2 overall behind nine All-Star nods and seven All-NBA selections of his own.

Then came the placement Green clearly had been building toward.

“At number three will be yours truly, myself, Draymond Green,” he said. “That is nine-time All-Defensive Team, Defensive Player of the Year one time, four-time NBA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist — although that don’t matter on here — two-time All-NBA: one-time Second Team, one-time Third Team. Make no mistake about it, that is number three.”

The résumé speaks for itself, but the context around it makes the placement even more remarkable. Green actually was selected 35th overall in 2012 — in the second round — and remains the only player in NBA history to be drafted that late and still go on to win at least four championships and make four All-Star teams. Nobody else picked outside the lottery that year, or in most drafts before or since, has matched that combination.

Green also made a point of shouting out two former teammates from that same class. He praised Harrison Barnes, the No. 7 overall pick by the Warriors that year, and Festus Ezeli, whose career was shorter but whom Green still credited as effective during his time with the Warriors. Both players shared in the championship runs that now anchor Green’s own case for No. 3 overall in 2012.

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