Draymond Green: 'Studying Boris Diaw's game was very special to me' / News - Basketnews.com

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During his 2022 NBA MVP trophy presentation, Nikola Jokic explained that one of his role models was Boris Diaw. The physique, the basketball I.Q., and the creativity of the retired French forward vividly resemble the way the Serb big man outsmarts his opponents.

Draymond Green

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On Sunday, after the Golden State Warriors'practice ahead of Game 4 of the NBA Finals, it wasDraymond Green who paid tribute to Diaw.

Responding to a question from a journalist on the Warriors' progress on a collective level, and on his progress on an individual level since he entered the NBA, Green referred to his role models in the game.

"There was definitely some guys that I took things away from, and over the course of my career I still continue to watch and try to take things away from those guys," Green said.

"I studied Boris Diaw so much early in my career and just how he moved the ball and how he used DHOs (Dribble Hand Offs). Moreso than a specific action, how he outthought the opponent. It was very special to me," he added.

Diaw, who played 14 years in league with five different teams, is not exactly a star. He once won the Most Improved Player title in his career, but the versatile forward had never been the best player on any of his teams.

Be that as it may, Green drew a lot of inspiration from Diaw, particularly with his mental approach to the game.

But Diaw wasn't the only player that Green modeled his game around.

"When I look at myself on the defensive end, I've tried to take things from a lot of guys. I've tried to incorporate some things that Dennis Rodman did to have success, Kurt Thomas and Chuck Hayes and how they were undersized but the way that they guarded on the block, two of the best post defenders at their size that I've ever seen.

You couldn't back down either one of those guys. I've tried to add that to my game on that side of the ball but ultimately understood that I didn't want to be a carbon copy of anybody.

I didn't think there was a path for me to succeed, for me to go and try to emulate someone else. I thought my path to success would be based on what I can bring to the table, and if there was something that I could recreate in our situation. So that was kind of the biggest thing for me," Green concluded.

Six years ago, Nicolas Batum had compared the two players.

"Green is more aggressive from time to time on shots and he defends a bit more but Boris was like that at the time he played in Phoenix," he said.

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