Programming note: Watch the Warriors take on the Suns on Friday night at 6 p.m. PT, streaming live on the MyTeams app.
Draymond Green was the third player the Warriors selected in the 2012 NBA Draft. Golden State took Harrison Barnes seventh overall, Festus Ezeli at No. 30 and Draymond at No. 35.
When the kid from Saginaw, Michigan entered the league, absolutely nothing was guaranteed to him.
As a rookie, he only averaged 13.4 minutes per game. He had major doubts about his long-term NBA prospects and thought he may have to go overseas.
Two years later, he was an All-Defense First-Team selection and arguably the second most indispensable player on a title-winning squad.
"One of my motivations was -- I want to take care of my mom," Draymond explained on the Pull Up Podcast with CJ McCollum and Jordan Schultz. "I don't want my mom to live the life that she had to live raising me for the rest of her life. And so how can I change that? How can I change it to where my kids never understand the struggles that I had as a child.
"So what can I do through the game of basketball to help change that? And those are some of the things that motivated me."
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In July 2015, Draymond accomplished those goals when he signed a five-year, $82 million extension with the Warriors. Boom. Set for life financially.
"So now what's that thing that's pushing you? Legacy. I want to make it to the Hall of Fame," Draymond explained. "I've been fortunate enough to make a couple All-Star Games and win a couple championships. What's that next thing that's pushing me? One thing I know that I can always grab onto and reach for it every day is to make it to the Hall of Fame.
"No matter what, every day I play this game of basketball, I am working towards that. And it does not stop until I'm done playing this game. Every time I step on the floor and I don't feel like playing, that's something that can push me. That's something that's gonna make me say, 'Well, if I want to do this, I have to go out here and give it 110 percent. I don't feel like waking up and working out, but I gotta go do this if I want to make it to the Hall of Fame.'
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"That's kind of where I am today. I just wanted to restructure my goals to be something that I know I just have to work towards it every single day."
Does the two-time All-NBA selection have some work to do to get enshrined? Yes he does. But you should bet on him ending up in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Drew Shiller is the co-host of Warriors Outsiders. Follow him on Twitter @DrewShiller
