Draymond Green has been inspired to live in the moment since Warriors assistant coach Dejan “Deki” Milojević passed away during the 2023-24 NBA season.
Green initially was distant from his Golden States teammates, mainly because of his incident with Jordan Poole in October 2022. In an exclusive interview with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears, Green explained how Milojević’s death led the veteran Warriors forward to reevaluate his life for the better.
“When Deki passed last season, you see all the pictures of everybody and stuff,” Green told Spears. “And I realized, ‘All of the pictures, you’re not in none of them because you got bored with everything else,’ " Green said. “So, all the moments everybody’s enjoying, ‘All right. Got to do this. Got to do that. Got to go get my body ready. Got to do this.’ And you forget to enjoy it.
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“So, then it just turns into the grind. So, for me, that was just a big reminder that you are missing the fun part of it. So, everything you’re doing is just to prepare to get ready. You’re missing the fun part of it.”
Green simply was missing key moments.
After punching Poole, the 34-year-old wasn’t himself. Instead of enjoying the moments between games and traveling with teammates, Green did the opposite, avoiding the fun.
Now, Green is back to being the connecting leader he always has been outside of his dark stretch. Just recently, the four-time NBA champion enjoyed hanging out on the water with his teammates in Honolulu. Green might not have done so without the self-reflection Milojević’s death elicited for him.
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“Deki is a reminder about how life is,” Green told Spears. “There is no secret now, we only got a handful of years to [play basketball] at the highest level.
“I’m always going to go out there and try to play the best of my ability. But in 20 years, we will be saying, ‘Remember when we were in Hawaii swimming in the ocean?’ … And so, for me that’s an emphasis this year. I always go to team dinners for the most part. But I mean hanging out before the game, when I get to the arena, it’s boom, boom, boom, boom, game. It’s like, ‘I got to go.’ All the fun happens in between.”
Green is a 13-year veteran; the clock on his playing career is ticking. And sadly, it took a life-changing moment in Milojević’s passing for that realization to really sink in.
Green has done it all throughout his Warriors career. He has four titles, plenty of accolades and a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction likely waiting for him.
All that’s left for Green is to enjoy every moment he has left.
“After a while it just become like, ‘Oh, another flight. Another practice,’ “ Green explained to Spears. “But for me, no that’s another opportunity to enjoy it and have fun. So, for me that’s an emphasis.”
Expect Green to soak in every moment of the Warriors’ 2024-25 NBA season.