'They should blame themselves': Pacers could have picked Draymond Green in 2012 NBA Draft

Draymond Green thought he had a real chance to be picked by the Indiana Pacers in the 2012 NBA Draft.

The Golden State Warriors star joined Paul George's "Podcast P" and discussed his draft journey coming out of Michigan State. Green was generally acknowledged to have draft lottery talent, but knee injuries made teams wary.

Here's what he said about the Pacers: "I worked out for Indiana twice."

"That was very interesting for me," Green said. "So much stuff happened in the draft with Indiana. The day I was there for the second workout … Larry Bird stepped down."

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Bird retired as team president shortly before the 2012 draft, and Donnie Walsh and Kevin Pritchard oversaw the draft. Bird returned to the team one year later.

The Pacers selected Miles Plumlee with the 26th pick, and he played 14 games his rookie season before being traded to Phoenix the following offseason.

"You guys passed up on me and they should blame themselves," Green said.

George and Green mused about the possibility of being teammates. Indiana chose George 10th overall in 2010, and he played his first seven seasons here.

Green went to Golden State with the 35th overall pick in '12. The Warriors passed on him twice (Harrison Barnes went seventh, and Festus Ezeli 30th) before nabbing him.

Green said that longtime Warriors personnel boss Bob Myers told him, "We eventually got it right" by choosing him.

Green has four NBA All-Star nods and earned the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year honor. He has been All-NBA twice and All-Defensive team eight times. The Warriors have won the NBA title four times in his career.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Draymond Green tells Paul George about Indiana Pacers in 2012 NBA Draft