Yahoo Sports senior NBA reporter Vincent Goodwill and basketball analyst Isis ‘Ice’ Young discuss the Warriors forward’s reaction to a media day question about his availability. Hear the full conversation on “Good Word with Goodwill” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

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He only played 55 games last year.

He missed 17 due to suspension or having to be away from the team on a team issued a, you need to go somewhere and sit down and think about all the things that you've done.

Do you think that was Draymond a little bit deflecting ice from the standpoint of I know what you mean, but I'm going to shift the conversation in such a way that makes a more big picture than exactly what the question was intended.

Or you think that's Draymond framing himself in such a way that he's trying to keep a sense of perspective?

Oh II, I don't think it's the second one.

I don't think there was much perspective used there.

I gotta, I gotta leave it open for you.

I gotta tell you, I, I appreciate that but I don't think it was perspective this, I think he was trying to control the narrative, which is something that I teach athletes that I work with and do media training with that.

When you get an answer, you as the athlete, you have the power to control the narrative and take it any which way you want.

Here are my thoughts.

My thoughts are that rather than you acknowledging that what the reporter said is true.

It is true that we are worried.

It's fair that we're worried we being the fans of Golden State, just them, right?

That's who he was pertaining to the fans of Golden State are worried about you.

Absolutely.

You have been consistent and been around for 13 years.

You are a successful black man, which is why we're worried because you are successful.

You are at this level.

You've been doing this for so long, but yet you showed us in your most recent season.

I can only go off the most recent season that sometimes you don't know how to act and you've had to be sat down 17 times.

You played 55 games and like you said, a credit to him when he played, he was on a tear second half of the season defensively.

And so it's ok for fans to be worried because hey, we need our guy, we need our guy playing.

We lost clay.

We're still hurt over that.

We might be so hurt over Jordan Poole going a couple of years ago.

I I was hurt over that and, and now and now you're back.

And so to me, it's like that narrative and question was fair to ask like me as an athlete, me as a reporter, it was fair to say that we're worried Draymond I think should have taken it a different way and acknowledged that, hey, like, I appreciate our fans being loyal.

I'm getting better.

I'm here to play this season.

I'm here to be on the court.

I'm here to help us win.

I'm here to help us do whatever.

Not the side note of, you know, I'm a successful black man.

Why would anybody be worried about me, dude?

You know, that's why we're not worried about you.

Well, here's the crazy thing and I hate this word because people have turned this word into like a social media phenomenon.

Like he was a little more demure, had he been a little more demure?

And we would have said, oh man, Draymond don't got his ass no more.

You know, he's not as feisty anymore.

Like you don't want Draymond playing like catatonic.

You don't want him playing like he's going to put someone in the million dollar dream Sleeper hold.

But you do want him playing with that edge like Golden state is not golden state as we know them without Draymond Green being arguably one of the most unique defenders we've ever seen, especially in this era of switching everything, basketball.

Like he's a basketball genius from the standpoint of knowing where to be, knowing where you're supposed to be, being able to defend at all three levels, being able to protect the rim, move his feet all that.

Even as he's getting older, he's still defensively pretty damned adept and pretty damn good when he's on, when he's dominating the game.

Golden State is damn near unbeatable.

And when you come off a season where you won 46 games and you find yourself in a play in, that means the margin for error is very, very thin.

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