GSW's Green: 'Being me has gotten me this far'
LAS VEGAS — Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green does not believe he must take a new course in light of recent incidents.
“Being me has gotten me this far,” Green said with a smile Monday at Team USA practice.
Green has a pending misdemeanor assault and battery case stemming from a July 10 altercation with now former Michigan State football player Jermaine Edmondson outside a restaurant in East Lansing, Michigan.
“My attorneys are handling everything,” Green said. “Leave it in their hands and I got an opportunity to compete for a gold medal. You don’t let any type of distraction get in the way of that. This [is] not about me. It’s not about anyone on this team. It’s about going out and defending our country the right way, so everything else is kind of secondary to that.”
Originally scheduled for Aug. 4, Green’s case has been moved to Thursday, before he must depart for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He stands accused of hitting Edmondson in an incident that police originally stated left both parties with “no injuries.” Edmondson has since transferred out of Michigan State.
Despite the lingering litigation, Green said that he hasn’t been punished by Team USA or coach Mike Krzyzewski, but that all parties are taking the situation seriously.
“Everybody’s concerned,” Green said. “But at the end of the day, as a public figure, as a guy that’s representing this country, it’s bigger than me. It’s bigger than anybody on this team. That’s just the stuff we have to remember.”
Green said his main focus is on “winning the gold medal,” and when asked whether he’d have to leave the team for any court proceedings in Michigan, he said his “attorney is handling all of those things.
The East Lansing situation came on the heels of a postseason in which Green missed Game 5 of the NBA Finals because a Game 4 swipe at LeBron James put Green over the limit for flagrant foul points. After Cleveland won the championship, Green said this of missing Game 5: “I blame myself for everything — that’s who I am. Hey, I’m not afraid to take the blame. I do think that’s where the series turned. I learned from it. I’ll be better.”
