Draymond: Gary Payton II “morphed into that Shaun Livingston role”
[video/interview/transcript]
Draymond Green waxed poetic about long-time teammate Gary Payton II at yesterday’s practice before today’s Play-in matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the LA Clippers.
There was even a reference to perhaps the greatest calming force ever to don the blue-and-gold.
“He’s become a steady force for us. You used to throw GP in the game, he rattled some stuff up. Now you throw him in the game to settle things down. He’s kind of morphed into that Shaun Livingston role, where he come in the game and things settle down a bit,” said Green.
Yes, Gary got-ejected-on-a-secomd-tech-after-shooting-a-ball-from-halfcourt-during-a-timeout Payton II (see Warriors-Kings recap) was described as someone who settles things down. The potentially crazy one who sometimes throws the ball to the wrong team or makes a silly needless foul as we pull our hair out on the livestream Watch Parties.
I kid, though. GP2 has, indeed, filled up the stat sheet since one Wardell Stephen Curry got sidelined with that runner’s knee, averaging 12-5-2-2 (points, rebounds, assists, steals) and just one turnover per game off the bench in Curry’s absence since January 30th.
“Him just growing into kind of a calming force for this team and everybody believes in that. And then also I think he takes a lot less shit than he used to. And I love that part,” added Dray.
The scrum also got steered right after the question about Payton, posed by Mark Medina of The RG Media, into reverence of Steph, drawing upon Game 4 of the 2022 Finals in Boston.
“Speaking of G,” Draymond said, referring to Gary, “when Steph speak like that, it’s a calming force for everyone. When you see him, there’s a confidence that comes with that and when it’s playoff time, when the stakes rise, the game level rises, he’s that steady force where, go back to Game 4 in Boston… nobody could really get it right. I was rattled and he was just like, ‘Oh no, it’s cool. Like, everybody come on, let’s go. Like, it’s fine.’”
Assuming the Warriors exit this post-season early, I can’ t wait to do a rewatch of that series. I also want to see if the Draymond detractors on Xitter are correct in that he regressed that entire run, or if they are using the benching incident as a red herring.
Anyways, leave it to Day-Day to pull me back onto the Curry bandwagon — as I’ve written and recorded on the YouTube channel recently, my heart will no doubt make me root for the on-court Dubs during the broadcast tonight, but my brain still tells me that had Moses Moody not gone down in a heap in Dallas, maybe I’d ride this version of the 2025-26 Warriors till the wheels fell off:
Be sure to stop by tonight, live on our Watch Party, as I become that basketball fiend watching what happens between 94 feet. Then around 9:30PM, after the final buzzer, I’ll go back to wondering if Yaxel Lendeborg might drop to the 11th pick or maybe if Atlanta Hawks GM Onsi Saleh might be amenable to a trade for his 7th pick:
Full Draymond transcript below the paywall (or click on the video below and read the transcript in its Comments)…
