Golden State Warriors veteran forward Draymond Green made special mention of seldom-used center Trayce Jackson-Davis for his selfless act during their 121-116 win over the Memphis Grizzlies that clinched them the No. 7 seed.
“I want to mention something that I saw today that no one will give a [expletive] about,” Green told reporters. “Trayce Jackson-Davis did something on the bench today. He didn’t play in the game. There were no seats on the bench, Quinten Post said, ‘Trayce, can I get that seat?’ and Trayce just got up. And a part of me was baffled that he got up for the rookie. Because the rookie – if there’s no seat, you sit on the floor. [Jackson-Davis] just got up and gave him the seat.
“And I walked over to [Jackson-Davis] and said that’s one of the more selfless things I’ve ever seen. Ninety-nine percent of the time, you’re going to be like, ‘You going to go sit on the floor, rook. Go find a seat somewhere else.’ But [Jackson-Davis] knew he wasn’t part of the rotation, and yet the rookie was. They’re playing the same position, and [Jackson-Davis] got up and went and stood in the tunnel because there were no seats.”
Quinten Post Supplants Trayce Jackson-Davis
Post posted 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 22 minutes. The rookie center has supplanted Jackson-Davis, who was part of the Warriors’ rotation last season and early this season.
But Post’s quintessential play as a stretch five relegated Jackson-Davis to the end of the bench. The 7-foot Post is shooting 40.8% from the 3-point line. With Post’s rise, Jackson-Davis, a second-year center, has only played more than nine minutes in a game just once since January.
Yet he is still engaged with the team and never sulked.
“I just wanted to put that out there because that to me – that’s why you win games,” Green told reporters. “It’s chemistry, selflessness, togetherness, and I just thought that was a huge moment. Nobody else saw it except us three. And so I wanted to share that. I thought that was a really big moment for our bench.
“You know, you can make [Post] sit on the floor and nothing happens, or you can get up and boost confidence in him and he’ll go back out there and hit a [three-point shot]. And I thought that was special.”
Draymond Green Sends Message to Jonathan Kuminga
It’s that type of selfless act which the Warriors hope would also get from Jonathan Kuminga , who was benched in their final two must-win games.
ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania reported on Wednesday, April 16, that Kuminga’s camp is “exhausted” by the disrespect after two straight CD-DNP (coach’s decision-did not play).
But there’s no doubt in Green’s mind that Kuminga will play a key role in their first-round playoff matchup against the young and athletic No.2. seed Houston Rockets.
“He’ll contribute,” Green said of Kuminga. “He’s great and he’s getting his work in. That’s all you can do in that situation is get your work in and he’ll be meaningful for us in that series. I have zero doubt about that. I think the challenge for him is to stay mentally engaged as is for anyone in that situation, but I have zero doubt in my mind that he’s going to help us in this series. He will 1,000%.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Warriors Star Draymond Green Moved by Benched Teammate’s ‘Selfless Act’ appeared first on Heavy Sports.