The Golden State Warriors are on the verge of getting eliminated from the playoffs in the Western Conference Semifinals.
They are currently down 3-1 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. But what is the reason behind the Warriors struggling so badly? Well, NBA analyst Emmanuel Acho believes Draymond Green getting disqualified as a leader has played a crucial role in the Dubs' struggles this season.
"The real thing I think has gone wrong with the Warriors is their biggest leader has been disqualified from leading," Acho said. "That's the first thing, in Draymond Green. And I think it goes back months and months and months ago. We all know what happened beginning the season with the punch throughout the course of the season, their biggest leader in, Draymond Green, has disqualified himself from leading. Let me walk you through it because A and Z are both a part of the alphabet, but there are letters, in fact, in between, so let me walk you through.
"The punch did occur, and the punch was A, and they are currently at Z. What I think the letters in between are is there is nobody to lift up Jordan Poole when Jordan Poole is clearly in the slump of all slumps. ... I was watching the entirety of last year in their Championship run, the Warriors realizing we need this dude. That's a large reason of why they gave him 120 million dollars. They realized they need this dude. There are things that people can do. There are things teammates can do to empower other teammates that I think is currently absent."
Acho further talked about how Green has always empowered his teammates, and the Warriors are currently missing that.
"Draymond Green is typically the person that empowers people," Acho added. "April 17, 2017, the thing that turned into a meme. Draymond Green pointing at KD, whispering into his ear, but if you ask them what occurred during that conversation, Draymond said, 'I was just telling him he's the f*****g man right and can't nobody f*****g and stop him.'
"That Meme right there we all haha about, that was the first game of the first playoff series of the run that turned into two championships. Y'all might think it's nothing. Call me crazy, I ain't even tripping if you do, but I do think Draymond, the biggest leader, has disqualified himself from leading, and I think it's played a role in the game."
(Starts at 27:32)
Draymond Green has always been a vocal leader for the Warriors. He has always tried to get his teammates out of slumps when needed.
As of now, Jordan Poole is having arguably the biggest slump of his career. But due to the beef between the two stars, Green has seemingly refrained from picking up the morale of his teammate.
If the Warriors get eliminated from the playoffs in Game 5 vs. the Lakers, Draymond Green will have a huge decision to make this summer.
He can either pick up his $27.6 million player option or enter free agency. While many believe that it would be foolish for Green to reject his player option, there is a chance that the former Defensive Player of the Year, tests the free agency.
Green is in search of a max contract extension, but if the Warriors do not offer him that, there are five destinations where he may join.
Either way, Draymond and the Warriors will currently hope to focus on winning Game 5 of the series and, at least, open the door to making a comeback against the Lakers.
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