2 min read • February 02, 2022
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The Warriors announced today they will hold out star hybrid big man Draymond Green through the All-Star break as he nurses a lower back disk issue.
Despite Green and the Warriors' united front expressing optimism of his recovery progress, our team of ProBasketballDocs are highly concerned about the specifics of the injury and how it may limit the 31-year-old's long-term health and effectiveness.
Green was initially ruled out on Jan. 9 with calf tightness that specialists discovered was stemming from a herniated disc in his lower back, and what was once a day-to-day ailment has stretched into a months-long ordeal. Even the current timeline, which has him re-evaluated in 3 weeks, is only a re-check marker, and does not guarantee he will be back.
Both the disc involvement and its consequences – in this case, calf soreness and tightness – imply that the disc is pressing on a nerve to the point of weakness in his calf.
The former Defensive Player of The Year admitted on Inside The NBA last Thursday that is still "getting stronger each day," meaning that he is coming from a place of muscle weakness.
Weakness is the least severe of symptoms emitted from a herniated disc, under numbness and radiating pain, but
ESPN and The Undefeated Senior NBA Writer Marc Spears reported last week that he "keeps hearing there is no light at the end of the tunnel," and that Golden State is "very uncertain" when Green will return.
We would add to Spears' comments that while it is not immediately on the horizon, the ailment could lead the 3-time all-star to surgery, effectively ending his season and dashing the Warriors' title hopes.
There are ways to avoid that eventuality, including limiting his time playing center and guarding opposing bigs. Green has spent much of this year as the Warriors' pseudo-center while simultaneously facilitating the offense, as James Wiseman has yet to appear for the team after tearing his meniscus last April.
Golden State is 38-13 this season, but only 10-7 without Green, a season-long win differential of a little over 19 games. The Warriors are 2nd place in the West and 3 games back of the red-hot Suns.
In his place, Steve Kerr has fluctuated between starting rookies Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody and 2022 dunk contest participant Juan Toscano-Anderson at power forward, although nobody can duplicate what Green brings to the Warriors.
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