It’s a tale as old as time. Older players lionize their own generation of players and lament how far the current group of stars has fallen. It’s one of the most constant criticisms levied at modern athletes in almost every sport. It’s just rare to hear it from an active player.
But Draymond Green essentially did just that on an appearance on Kevin Durant’s “The ETC’s” podcast. It all started with Green discussing why he doesn’t expect to coach after his career. He started by talking about the grueling schedule and how much he enjoys broadcasting, but went on to share his concern with the attitude young players have towards competition.
“There’s more talent around the league than there’s ever been. From a talent standpoint, the league is in a good space. But as pure basketball lovers — who love competition at the highest level — I think they gotta catch up in that department.”
Green later expanded on that by discussing the decline of trash-talking around the league.
“They soft as hell. I’ve found myself trying to talk shit to some of these young dudes that won’t talk. And they’re like trying to be a friend. That’s what these young dudes do nowadays. I don’t understand it.”
In fairness, Green is a future Hall-of-Famer, a three-time champion and a legendary trash-talker. It makes sense that players might not want to talk to him. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve lost their competitive edge. But even if players are trying to be friendly now, the obvious question that stems out of that is, so what? The product on the floor has never been better. Green himself has actively recruited players, including Durant himself, in free agency.
Green is a rarity in the modern NBA, but he was a rarity early in his career as well. Few players are as tenacious and competitive as he is, and that would have been true in almost any era.