http://www.mercurynews.com/warriors/ci_29338945/draymond-greens-warriors-heroics-know-no-bounds

Draymond Green's Warriors heroics know no bounds
By Carl Steward | csteward@bayareanewsgroup.com
POSTED: 01/03/2016 02:37:40 PM PST

In the wake of the latest and most monstrous triple-double of his career -- 29 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists against the Denver Nuggets -- Draymond Green seemed more delighted by the little challenge he won with interim coach Luke Walton.

It came in the first quarter of the Warriors' early blitz Saturday night. Green already had buried his first three 3-point shots as the Warriors took an 11-2 lead in the first 2:18. During a Nuggets timeout, the Warriors huddled at the bench and, well, here's Draymond to tell the rest:

"I was able to get it going, and my teammates started to look for me. Then Luke drew up a play for me (during the timeout) and told me I wasn't going to make it on the fourth one. So I had to knock that one down."

And of course, he did. Nailed it. Nuttin' but net, followed by a smile and a knowing smirk at the guy striding in front of the bench. Drain-mond. Trey-mond. Call him what you will, but make sure you call him unique and oh-so special, a man you can dare to do something and who will darn near kill himself trying.

If you want to know why Walton has been such a wonder as Steve Kerr's interim replacement, it's stuff like this. He's not so far removed from his playing days that he hasn't forgotten how to play the game within a game, the mind game that gently goads a player to a new level of greatness.

Whatever competitive buttons he's pushing with Green, he's hitting all the gobble holes in the pinball machine. Draymond is lighting up everywhere and giving multiple replays. It makes you wonder what Walton might do next to keep his most versatile player at this astonishing level of play.

Hey, Luke, how about this one? Tell Green he has played OK so far this season but add that he probably has reached his ceiling and that there's no chance he could ever become the NBA's MVP. Yep, that might touch off a fresh bell or whistle.

One could argue fairly convincingly that through 33 games, Green has been the best all-around player in the league -- and the most valuable -- even over teammate and defending MVP Stephen Curry. True, he's not off the charts in any one statistical category. He's averaging 15.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 7.4 assists. But as a composite, those numbers are pretty untouchable. And he's shooting 41.4 percent from beyond the arc, up eight percentage points from his career best last year (33.7).

He's one of the best defenders in the league, if not the best (go ahead, tell him San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard is slightly better), and he can guard any position. He's the team's loudest voice when the edges of the Warriors' precision attack becomes a bit frayed, so he's a leader of the highest order and someone who backs his smack.

He's durable -- he's one of two Warriors to play in all 33 games, and he leads the team in minutes played. He's cagey, tough and fearless, definitely the guy you want leading the way into the dark alley to face off with the Gutter Cats. Check him out after a game sometime -- he looks like a man who has just survived a rumble on the docks, wrapped up in assorted bandages, soaking his swollen feet in a bucket of ice water but sporting a visage of victory bliss.

More than anything, Green is best at winning. However it has to be done. As many have stated, he is the hard-thumping heartbeat of a team that is now an otherworldly 31-2. His plus-minus is second in the league to Curry, and in a three-point overtime victory against Denver, he was plus-18. That doesn't even count the little side game with Walton that he also won.

As for the triple-doubles, Green may now be challenging LeBron James as "The King" of that stat from the forward position. James has 36 career triple-doubles in the regular season, the league's active leader, but the most he has ever had in a single season is seven.

Green, who didn't get his first until a year ago (Jan. 2 vs. Toronto) already has six this year with 49 games to go. And let's not forget, Green also had a triple-double in the clinching Game 6 of the NBA Finals against James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It's fast becoming his statistical stamp of stardom.

Walton blew his cover after the game when asked about Green's spectacular performance and the latest new heights he's reaching. Walton couldn't help but gush about the player to whom he probably most relates, an underdog with a chip on his shoulder and a genius for playing basketball.

"You come to expect whatever is needed," Walton said. "Some nights that's his playmaking, some nights his toughness, or some nights it's hitting a big shot. He can have four points and still be the best player on the floor.

"Tonight, with the injuries and the way the game was, we needed his scoring, his rebounding and his playmaking. He did all of that. That stat line (which also included four steals), when I saw that after the game, that's as good as it gets."

To wit, according to Elias Sports Bureau, there have been five instances in the last 50 years when a player has amassed 29-plus points, 17-plus rebounds and 14-plus assists in an NBA game. Wilt Chamberlain did it three times, all in 1968. Larry Bird did it in 1987.

And now Draymond Green, kicking off 2016. Second-round draft pick Draymond Green. Too small, too pudgy, too poor-shooting and too loud Draymond Green.

But no, he couldn't win the MVP. Maybe throw in that he's not nearly good enough to make the Western Conference All-Star team or the U.S. Olympic team, either. Tell him, Luke, tell him. And then just lean back, fold your fingers behind your head and turn him loose on the world.