The Golden State Warriors have not been the Golden State Warriors this season. Thanks to a combination of offseason player departures and injuries, the Dubs’ 5-21 record is currently the worst in the league. The roster, especially following Steph Curry’s injury, has basically been Draymond Green, D’Angelo Russell, and a collection of youngsters and journeymen who are trying to establish themselves as guys with futures in the league.
Of that roster, only Green has been around for the entirety of the team’s run, meaning he’s been playing despite the fact that his body has taken a ton of wear and tear over the years. He has missed a few games, though, in part due to a load management plan the team has put him on. This will include resting him on Friday when the team travels to Utah two nights after Green played 39 minutes in an overtime win against New York.
When asked about this on Friday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr explained that he went up to the team’s director of sports medicine and performance, expressed his interest in giving Green a day off, and when he agreed, Kerr told Green of the decision. Kerr then made it clear that he knows what this season is, and as such, there’s no reason for a guy like Green to go all-out.
Via Wes Goldberg of The Mercury News:
“We know what this year is about,” Kerr said. “In the meantime, Steph and Klay are getting the rest that they need from these past five years; in an unfortunate way, obviously, with the injuries, but Draymond is the one guy who’s still here, who has played as hard as anybody in the league these last five years and played all these games.
“So, he gets the night off.”
Kerr has previously called this season “kind of a good thing” because of how it lets the team’s biggest contributors have a physical and mental break. He’s made no secret that this year is recharging, and fortunately for Green, that means taking as much time as possible to get his body right as he works to recover from nagging injuries.
