Draymond recalls Podz scolding him during Warriors scrimmage
Draymond recalls Podz scolding him during Warriors scrimmage originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski makes the most of any and every opportunity he gets on the floor -- that includes scrimmages.
During practice before Golden State's second game of the 2023-24 NBA season against the Sacramento Kings, the Warriors set up a scrimmage to help Draymond Green, who was rehabbing an ankle injury, ramp up his return.
At the time, Podziemski wasn't in coach Steve Kerr's rotation, so he and some of the other young guys played on Green's team against the first and second units. They lost the first game after Green turned the ball over, something Podziemski didn't take lightly.
“We can’t have a turnover for game!” Podziemski told Green, per The Athletic's Anthony Slater. “You cannot turn the ball over for game.”
Understandably, Green was shocked. He's used to doing the talking (and yelling) and definitely wasn't accustomed to hearing that from others, much less a rookie.
Green wasn't mad or offended, either. It was the opposite reaction from the outspoken veteran, who was almost impressed with what he just witnessed.
“I was like, 'OK, cool, you got it. No problem,' " Green told Slater. “Here we are playing a pickup game, a game to get me ready and he’s yelling at me. That to me said a whole lot. I was like, ‘You know what? No problem. But make sure you speak up like that all the time.' "
More than four months later, nothing has changed for the rookie, except his role with the team.
Podziemski recently earned a spot in Golden State's starting lineup to replace four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson. The soon-to-be 21-year-old is averaging 9.9 points on 46.4-percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range, with 5.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 47 games (14 starts) this season.
But that confident, cocky, fearless rookie he was at the start of the season is the same player he is today.
“He talk s--t all day,” Green told Slater of Podziemski. “That’s all he do.”
Podziemski's competitive mindset clearly has earned the respect of his Warriors teammates and veterans, and the team will need it for the final stretch of the 2023-24 season as they hope to secure a spot in the playoffs.
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