Draymond Green Is Still Innovating In The Meltdown Space

The Golden State Warriors have been positively meh-tastic this season, as if it has finally dawned on them that they really are old after all these years. Even if the game has not fully passed them by, the NBA's talent dynamics surely have. They are not yet awful in the way of the worst of their brethren, as Comrade Hampton most recently learned to her own cost, and they are not likely to be so unless old comes up and takes a sizable chunk out of Stephen Curry. But there also isn't a lot to recommend them as a viewing experience or playoff contender at this moment. Their 120-97 win over Orlando last night merely pulled the Warriors back to .500. For a fan base that remembers the 2015-19 teams, which were below .500 for only five days in those five seasons, it is a bit of a comedown.

But the show must go on, and when every day is a new competition for the entertainment dollar—Red Panda is now doing NFL gigs, for Christ's sake—the Warriors are learning that there is more to holding an audience than Curry going for 48 in an inexplicable loss. You'll still get that show every now and then, but no longer with the old rerun-style regularity. The same goes for Draymond Green's own conundrum, which is sort of about keeping his more specialized audience engaged and sort of about managing his own ineffable Draymondness.