SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The poet has been upstairs in his office, tapping at the keyboard on various projects. Most of his mornings begin this way … so much work to do. Some days he tends to his blog, and on other days he tidies up his memoir that is nearing publication. Or he may put the finishing touches on another of his mystery novels. And of course, his poetry. There is always his poetry.

Much of his poetry chronicles his remarkable life. He was born in Manchuria to Russian parents, and from ages 3 to 6 lived in a World War II internment camp in Tokyo. Just before he turned 7, he crossed under the Golden Gate Bridge. After moving to America, he later became an accomplished professional basketball player who did more than just start alongside Wilt Chamberlain. He was a 1963 NBA All-Star and the first player to have his number retired by the Golden State Warriors. He also was a failed bookstore owner, coached basketball everywhere from Portland, Ore., to Africa, and spent 24 years teaching high school English.

His eclectic path is made more fascinating in that at 85 he refuses to become idle and bask in the accomplishment of a life well lived. He says he is “obsessed” with being productive, which for him means writing. He has authored five books of poetry. Written two memoirs. Six novels. The majority of his literary work has come after he turned 70. He tries to explain the “why” behind his obsession but ultimately concedes that perhaps poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson put it best in Ulysses:

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!
As tho’ to breathe were life!

It’s that last line that particularly resonates with the poet, Tom Meschery. Just because you are breathing doesn’t mean you are living.

In 2005, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that has no cure. Doctors estimated he had five years to live. Now 19 years later, he is as prolific as ever, even as he sacrifices an afternoon to break from his computer and regale a visitor with stories. He credits medical science, and in particular the drug Revlimid, for keeping his cancer in remission. But he also feels something deeper, something more powerful has been behind his late-life renaissance: a love story. His love story.

He is not big on sentimentality, lest it come across as maudlin. However, he is a romantic and therefore acknowledges that his love story is more than just a poet falling for an artist. Like his poetry, which he says “seems to come out of nowhere,” she came from an online dating site and changed his life. Not only changed it but also played a role in saving it.

“I think love acted as a barrier to the cancer,” Meschery says. “It was like the door was closed. Maybe it wasn’t locked, but the love was holding onto the door and not letting the cancer in. And that kind of love changed my attitude toward living. I started spending all my time thinking about living, rather than dying.”

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When Tom Meschery received his cancer diagnosis in 2005, he was already in a bit of a spiral. He was newly divorced and had just retired from a teaching job he loved. Living in Truckee, Calif., a ski town on the outskirts of Lake Tahoe, he had become engulfed with loneliness. He was 68 and wrestling with his purpose in life. Now, faced with a diagnosis that sounded like a death sentence, he slipped into what he called a suicidal depression.

His spiral was palpable. After separate visits following their father’s diagnosis, his three children — Janai, Megan and Matthew — all left concerned.

“We were all really worried about him,” Matthew says. “Not just because of the cancer, but also the circumstances of him being alone up on the mountain, just going through that mostly by himself.”

The siblings remember comparing notes after visits. They all remarked how the house they grew up in — one filled with activity, laughter and lively discussion — had become so quiet.

“It was a house that was always filled with people, a very social place, and dad was always the one holding court,” Janai says. “And the contrast … was hard on all of us.”

By 2008, Meschery could no longer suppress his depression. With Matthew visiting, Meschery remembers halting the ironing of a shirt and blurting out to his son: I’m lonely.

Matthew made a suggestion.

Go online, Dad. Everybody does it.

So he put himself out there. The poet went on his first date.

“I wasn’t particularly impressed,” he sniffed.

His second foray on the dating site seemed improbable from the get-go. Her name was Melanie Marchant, and her profile picture was stunning. There is no way, he reasoned, that she is in her 60s; she looks 30. And it seemed too perfect that like he, she was creative, an accomplished painter located two hours away in Sacramento. For a month, they chatted online and on the phone. They talked about literature, cooking, her two children and his three.

On Valentine’s Day 2008, a first date was arranged at a Turkish restaurant in downtown Sacramento. As he hurried into the restaurant, late, she was waiting with the maitre d, toe-tapping in mock disgust. She playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

They exchanged cards. His card to her featured the poem Wild Geese by Mary Oliver. The poem represented his vulnerability, his willingness to be open.

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.

Her card for him? A Valentine left over from one of her grandchildren, featuring Batman. Almost two decades later, it still humors him.

After dinner, they went to her place. She says she had a surprise for him. As they went up the stairs, he became enraptured. Lining the walls of the staircase were religious icons. He was taken back to his youth and his Russian Orthodox roots. Then, the surprise: she had rented “Ratatouille” — the animated movie about a rat who has a nose for cooking — which played off their frequent conversations about recipes and cuisine.

“And that was it, babe. I was in love,” he says, throwing his hands in the air. “As I drove back to the mountains that night, I knew this was going to be a lifetime relationship. I just knew that she and I were going to be together for the rest of our lives.”

One year after their first date, they were married.

She had been divorced for 30 years and says “if you go 30 years, you know when you find something.” They connected over their creative curiosities and their love of literature — she estimates in their first year of dating they spent between $2,000-$3,000 on books. And soon, she became his trusted editor. He figures she has edited 53,000 pages of his writing.

“I would go through his manuscripts and write “Booooooooring!” Melanie says chuckling. “But I think his writing is wonderful. I do worry when I ask him how he slept, and he says ‘Not well …’, because that means he has written another book in his head. He’s got three or four of them up there now.”

He says she has become his muse, but more accurately she has become somewhat of a life coach. She calls him Thomas and he calls her Mel, and they are constantly engaged in playful banter, trying to get the other to chuckle. One of her favorite pastimes is charting who she considers the most handsome players in the NBA (De’Aaron Fox, Steph Curry and Harrison Barnes top the current list).

However, she turns stern and blunt when it comes to his cancer. She is adamant that our bodies are not separate from our minds, and from the onset of their relationship, she has conditioned his mind to revel in the now rather than dread what could be ahead.

“When he told me he had cancer, I said, ‘Yeah? I know a lot of people who have cancer. When you are 70, people get cancer,’” Melanie says. “I don’t do drama. I don’t do sobbing. What I’m good at is, if there is a problem, it’s not a challenge. You just take it and solve it. And the man I met was so healthy and happy … he has cancer? Not today. That’s just how I felt.”

His mindset changed. He stopped thinking so much about the future and instead embraced what was in front of him. There was poetry to write, grandchildren to enjoy, dinners to be had and basketball games to watch.

“When I met Mel, I knew that I had found the love of my life,” Meschery says. “And from that point on, I became more positive about myself, about my cancer and about how long I would live. I just couldn’t whine about it with her, she wouldn’t stand it. She inspired me to just let it go, and trust my instincts.”

He is on a maintenance dose of Revlimid — 28 days on the drug, 10 days off — and every three months he has blood drawn to chart his cell count and presence of proteins. Every test since he has met Melanie has shown the cancer to be in remission.

“And we laugh about it: Another three months of putting up with me,” Meschery says. “It has become a much more casual conversation, almost like it’s not life-threatening anymore. And I think that was all her doing, which became my doing. It was like she passed on this belief system to me, and gave it to me as a gift.”

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NBA players from the 1960s would chuckle at the idea of Meschery as a poet, trumpeting the powers of love. To them, he was the Mad Manchurian, a 6-foot-7 bear of a man who was known for his intensity and physicality, which sometimes morphed into rage. He played power forward, and after 778 career games — six seasons with the Warriors, who moved from Philly to San Francisco in 1962, and four with the Seattle SuperSonics — Meschery averaged 12.7 points and 8.6 rebounds. But as his nickname suggests, he was as known for his temperament as he was for his skill.

He once grabbed a chair during a game and chased Lakers center Darrall Imhoff into the stands. And he remembers fighting Philadelphia’s Chet Walker, and after both were ejected, charging at him in the back hallway.

He has yet to reconcile with the dichotomy between how he played and how he views himself. He addressed his unease in his last book of poetry, “Clear Path,” with the poem Rumors.

He writes of his wife on an airplane, and a passenger remarking to her that Meschery “was the meanest son of a b—- I’d ever seen play basketball.”

…there was my epitaph being written
at ten thousand feet above the earth
by a stranger who might have seen me play
or maybe not at all, and just heard from someone
else that I was mean. How rumors start. How unjust
a life can be, viewed through someone else’s eyes.

“It always shocked me that I often reacted so violently on the court,” Meschery says today. “I know in my heart I was not a violent man. But if you experience violence once in yourself, I think you are forever going to second guess the possibility that it is a part of your personality. And it can hang there for a lifetime. I can’t look in the mirror and see myself as a mean son of a b—-. But I know there was a part of me … and that poem was part of that reflection that I sensed, and regrettably so, that there is something in me that would allow anger to enter. And it’s not a good feeling.”

He also never bridged the barrier between him and his father, whom he loved but with whom he struggled to connect. His father wanted him to go into the military and never watched him play basketball, deeming it unworthy as a profession. He opened Meschery’s eyes to poetry, as he would recite poems in Russian at the dinner table, unafraid to weep. Meschery says one of the great regrets in his life is not arriving in time to say goodbye to his father before he died. In his first collection of poetry, “Nothing We Lose Can Be Replaced,” his piece entitled Tom Meschery is essentially a letter to his father, who once asked, ‘What kind of work is this for a man?’

Old immigrant, I admit all this
too late. You died before I could explain
newspapers call me a journeyman.
They write I roll up my sleeves
and go to work. They use words
like hammer and muscle to describe me
…father, you would have been proud of me:
I labored in the company of large men.

Meschery also recounted the night Chamberlain scored 100 points against the Knicks in 1962. Meschery started beside Chamberlain and played 40 minutes, amassing 16 points and seven rebounds. In the poem Wilt, he captured a viewpoint from the team bus: the contrast between a historic night of work on the hardwood and the ordinary, everyday life in the Pennsylvania countryside.

As a rookie I watched
Wilt score a century in one game
in Hershey, Pa., with the smell
of chocolate floating through the arena
…but mostly, what I remember about that game
is this: …on the bus driving through the dark Amish countryside,
outside a farmer in a horse and buggy,
hurrying home in the all
too brief light of his lantern

He has more than 100 poems published about sports and quips that he is subconsciously trying to match the 2,841 personal fouls for which he was whistled during his career. When asked if he ever reflects on the breadth and depth of his life’s work, he pauses, then equates measuring his life accomplishments to evaluating his poetry.

“I think I’ve done the best I could,” Meschery says. “If I look at life like a whole series of poetry … I can only pick out 15 or 20 poems out of the entire collection that I think are truly inspired poetry. I am just a poet. But I recognize I’ve written some really, really good poems. But I also recognize that a lot of my poetry is … meh. Not bad. Not awful. And that’s okay. I’m not unhappy about it. That’s a little bit the way life is.

“Can you look at your life and honestly say that most of your life has been inspired? Probably not. But you do pick out those moments when you did really good. And I think I’ve been able to do that. But at the same time, I’m not so egotistical to believe that every moment of my life has been a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sky hook.”

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Another force helped pull Meschery out of his malaise following his cancer diagnosis. It was a friend from long ago, one with whom he hadn’t kept in touch: basketball.

In 2006, Matthew, concerned about his father’s well-being, bought him NBA League Pass, a subscription that provides coverage for every NBA game. By then, basketball had become an afterthought for Meschery. He had not been involved in the NBA since 1976 when he finished a two-year stint as an assistant under Lenny Wilkens in Portland. And he hadn’t been involved in basketball period since 1985, when he went to West Africa to coach teams in Mali, Ivory Coast, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo.

When he tuned in, his interest in the NBA was rekindled. He was drawn to his former team, the Warriors, and that 2006-07 team — an uptempo, free-wheeling and stylistic squad coached by Don Nelson and led by Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson — stirred him. He was once again inspired by the game he once played.

“I hadn’t kept up with the NBA, but once I started watching this new version of basketball, I went crazy. I just loved it,” Meschery says. “The ball was moving … they were flying through the air … and I was just astounded these guys could do this stuff.”

Then, in 2010, under the new ownership of Joe Lacob, the Warriors reached out to Meschery. The organization wanted to reconnect with its past. Meschery, the first NBA All-Star not born in America, and the first Warriors player to have his number retired, was brought back into the fold. He was invited to games. Introduced to players. He rode in all four championship parades, including 2022, when Warriors star Klay Thompson spotted from the team bus Meschery riding on the parade route on Market Street. Thompson got off the bus, and while holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy, beelined for Meschery, wrapping him in a bear hug.

“There was a time when we were worried about my dad losing a sense of himself,” Matthew says. “Basketball was a big part of his life experience and who he is, and the Warriors helped bring that back.”

Before this season, the Warriors asked Meschery to write a poem to commemorate Golden State’s new City Edition uniforms, which paid homage to the San Francisco cable cars. Meschery recited Mason Street Line at the unveiling.

“When I think back on my cancer, love saved me and helped cure me,” Meschery says. “But I think the Warriors had a little something to do with it, too.”

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There is nothing poetic about how the poet handles the moments when the inevitable thoughts come, the thoughts of dying, of the cancer eventually winning.

“I’d be lying if I told you I don’t think about it from time to time,” Meschery says. “I think anybody who reaches the age of 85 knows they don’t have much time left. But I don’t dwell on it.”

When those moments arrive, he finds he is usually in bed. “Then I have a little mantra I say to myself: Tom, you are not going to die tomorrow. And Tom, you are not going to die in the next week. And probably not for the next six months. More likely, not for another year. So f— it, get on with your life.”

Then, he says, he goes back to sleep, intent on seeing his grandchildren, seeing his latest works published, including his memoir “The Mad Manchurian in August, and in October the publication of “The Case of the VW Hippie Bus,” the third installment in his Brovelli Brothers mystery novels.

In the meantime, he spends most of his nights watching the Warriors, or the Kings. Melanie, who turned 80 on Sunday is often nearby, flipping pages of the latest book she is reading, pausing briefly to make a quip or note the handsomeness of an opposing player.

“I call her my basketball buddy,” Meschery says. “And she says, ‘That’s exactly what every woman wants to hear.’”

The point is no longer how long he will live, he says, but rather doing what is enjoyable and productive. That he has found love with Melanie, and in turn found his muse and purpose, gives him a bittersweet vantage on his sunset.

“I think it makes you fear death more,” he says. “I’m really going to miss living. The idea of not seeing my grandchildren, the idea of not being able to write a poem, to enjoy a meal … that can be quite terrifying. But you can’t live your life worrying about death.”

And so he continues to appreciate living. And laughing. And loving. And ever the poet, he continues writing.

It was three years ago when Meschery wrote the poem 2,841 Personal Fouls. It has little to do with his basketball career, and more to do with his love story. In the poem, he laments that the “thought of dying still pisses me off” and he equates his anger to the unfairness he felt with many of the 2,841 fouls for which he was whistled. But he counters with the outlook Melanie has so ingrained in him.

This morning, didn’t I wake up to sunlight
and a warm breeze? Didn’t my wife
poke her head into the office
to tell me she loved me? I flavor
my coffee with honey that is sweet as life.
I should live a little longer.

(Top photo: Max Whittaker for The Athletic)

SAN FRANCISCO — The motivational message, courtesy of the great Larry Bird, came at the perfect time.

Klay Thompson was just a few days removed from the unwelcome start of his sixth-man life in Utah, where the 34-year-old Warriors legend had been asked to come off the bench after the previous 12 years as a starter. Even with Thompson’s spectacular debut in this new reserve role, a 35-point showing on Feb. 15 that helped lift Golden State over the Jazz heading into the All-Star break, this was the kind of career-changing decision that would take much more time to truly accept. The emotions were still raw.

This was already a sensitive situation too, what with Thompson and the Warriors having been unable to come to terms on an extension in recent months and his free agency looming this summer. And now, with all those existential questions about value and mutual respect front and center already, here he was being asked to sacrifice for the greater good of the group.

An unexpected morale boost from the Basketball Gods, in other words, was badly needed.

As Thompson would learn by way of Warriors PR man Raymond Ridder, and would eventually see for himself on that cellphone video that will be cherished and saved in his digital archives for all of time, Bird had spent part of his All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis speaking with great admiration about him.

The remarks took place at the annual Tech Summit, where Bird shared the stage with famed broadcaster Bob Costas for a wide-ranging basketball conversation that shifted in Thompson’s direction when the Celtics great was asked about which players he enjoyed watching. Then Bird, who shared the NBA Finals stage with Klay’s father, Mychal, when the Lakers won it all in 1987, waxed poetic about the five-time All-Star who was missing on the festivities for a fifth consecutive season.

“Klay Thompson has always been one of my favorite players,” Bird said. “What an incredible shooter.”

Bird went on to share his memories of Thompson’s incredible Dec. 5, 2016, performance against his Indiana Pacers in which he scored 60 points in three quarters — while dribbling the ball just 11 times.

“How do you that, Bob?” Bird, who headed the Pacers front office at the time, said to Costas as his voice rose in disbelief. “How do you do that? … That’s pretty incredible to me.”

For Thompson, who grew up in Los Angeles hearing all those stories about the rivalry between Bird’s Celtics and the Showtime Lakers, the sight of Larry Legend speaking with amazement about his career for a grand total of 37 seconds was nothing short of profound. After all, as those close to him know, his desire to feel appreciated has been a central theme in this trying season of change and self reflection.

“It’s very nice to be reminded, especially from someone like Larry, who I not only looked up to but who I heard about my whole life — especially from my dad,” Thompson told The Athletic. “I watched the Showtime Lakers versus those Celtics teams, and it was just a really cool thing to hear. To hear him going out of his way to say that meant so much to me. Ray sent me the clip, and I’m gonna keep that clip forever.”

As Thompson shared publicly back on Feb. 5 after a game at Brooklyn, when he was so honest and vulnerable about how hard this late-career transition to a lesser role has been, these past few months have been an emotional roller coaster the likes of which he has never felt. It wasn’t the first time he’d chosen to be so open about his truth, either, as he talked at length in early January about the importance of him finding a way to maintain positive energy even when he’s struggling.

Thompson is hardly alone when it comes to this sort of crossroads, with future Hall of Famers such as Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love and his Warriors teammate Chris Paul among those who made the shift to a reserve role earlier than expected in recent years. Andre Iguodala, of course, went down in Warriors lore because of his willingness to make the move gracefully in 2014 en route to them winning three titles in the next four seasons. Carmelo Anthony’s ill-fated final few years were considerably less successful. For better or worse, it’s a hoops tale as old as time.

But given the mood of the moment for Thompson, who lost those two seasons with ACL and Achilles injuries and worked his way back with dreams of returning to his All-Star level, the Bird video was an assist of sorts during an otherwise-challenging time. Especially when the criticism, both in social and mainstream media, has become such a staple of his late-career experience.

This latest chapter has gone mostly well, though, with Thompson adding a dynamic dimension to the Warriors’ second unit that is expected to welcome Paul back after his 21-game absence (fractured hand) Tuesday at Washington. That development alone — the notion of two future Hall of Famers coming off the bench to share the backcourt — has Thompson excited about the possibilities here.

Even in the games where Thompson’s shots aren’t falling, like the home win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday in which he missed eight of nine from the field but had a plus-2 rating, the lifelong sharpshooter is being lauded for his ability to make an impact in other ways. His fast chemistry with young big man Trayce Jackson-Davis, in particular, has been a bright spot.

There have been vintage Klay moments already too, like his showing in Salt Lake City and the 23-point first half against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday (though he went scoreless in the second half). In these first four games in this new role, Thompson is fourth on the team in minutes (27.1 minutes per game), second in scoring (18.1 points) and fourth in plus-minus (plus-13). Overall this season, Thompson is averaging 17.1 points (his lowest total since his 2012-13 season) while on pace for career lows in overall (41.8) and 3-point (37.2) shooting percentage.

The key revelation for the Warriors (29-27), who have won 10 of their last 13 games while creeping back into Play-In Tournament territory, is that Thompson doesn’t see this new assignment as any sort of disqualifier when it comes to his Warriors future. And while Thompson plans on listening to pitches from other teams, it’s clear that staying put is still his preferred option — so long as he feels appreciated and respected in ways that go beyond the financial factor.

“Not really,” Thompson said when asked if the sixth-man assignment might change his desire to return. “I mean, you’ve still got to examine all of your options, but I would love to be a Warrior for life. Whatever happens though, I’ve got a few more years to play this game, so I’m gonna enjoy every second. I realize that I see light at the end of the tunnel, (and) I’m not sure if I want to play until I’m 40, man. That sounds really exhausting.”

That last part appears to qualify as a change of heart, as Thompson had previously expressed a desire to play until he was 40 in the summer of 2019 (during his ACL recovery and before his Achilles tendon tear). When asked to confirm that this reserve role wasn’t a deal-breaker when it comes to him possibly re-signing with the Warriors, he repeated the stance.

“Nah,” he said.

Yet in terms of the bigger-picture outlook, the fact remains that Thompson is the only member of the Warriors’ celebrated core whose contract situation has not been resolved. Steve Kerr’s recent extension (two years, $35 million) lined him up with Steph Curry (signed through the 2025-26 season), and Draymond Green received his four-year, $100 million deal last summer. Even before you dig into the personal dynamics, with Thompson well within his right to wonder if the Warriors truly see him as part of their future, that sort of contractual landscape is inevitably uncomfortable given all they’ve accomplished together.

It hasn’t helped matters that the departure of longtime front-office head Bob Myers last summer left a communication gap of sorts between Thompson and Warriors owner Joe Lacob behind the scenes. Publicly, Lacob has maintained a consistent desire for Thompson to remain. Even with the daunting luxury tax ramifications that loom so large.

Thompson always knew he would likely have to wait until his free agency arrived this summer, what with Lacob’s well-chronicled hopes of ducking under the second (and possibly first) luxury tax apron compelling them to let the roster landscape fully unfold before adding salary. But it’s clear their relationship has suffered some strain along the way, with league sources indicating that Thompson has received no assurances from on high that his hopes of retiring happily in a Warriors jersey someday will be a shared priority this summer. Both sides, it seems clear, have no clarity about what might happen when that time rolls around.

In the here and now, though, Thompson insists he’s in a good place.

“I’m doing great,” he said. “I think I’m doing much better in not putting my identity in my performance, especially after 11 years of NBA basketball. That alone is an incredible accomplishment. And to be out here and still be playing and having fun and being healthy, that trumps any big shooting night or 50-40-90 milestones.

“It took me a long time to realize that, but once I finally did, my game has been much better. I’ve been so much more at ease and realizing that, ‘Gosh, this is such a cool opportunity for me.’ Guys would kill to be in my shoes, even with all the injuries and all that. The heights we’ve reached are rare, so it’s been awesome.”

When it comes to how Thompson has been handling this transition, a quick trip around the Warriors locker room on Sunday night yielded positive feedback. Warriors big man Kevon Looney, who started for most of the past two years before being moved to a reserve role in late January, made the point that the timing of it all made it even tougher for Thompson.

“I think he’s handling it extremely well,” Looney told The Athletic. “I wasn’t sure how he was gonna handle it, especially during the midseason. It wasn’t like (he had) a talk (with the coaches) in training camp, where you’re able to prepare yourself for something like that. It’s a midseason (decision), so I didn’t know how he’d handled it.

“But he’s been more than great. He hasn’t been complaining. I think that (aspect) has probably been even better. He showed his frustration early in the season … (but now) he’s been a great teammate, great leader. And when one of your Hall of Fame players shows that type of leadership, everybody has to kind of follow suit. Nobody can be mad about their role or the minutes they’re getting.”

With the need to maximize youngsters Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski more crucial than ever, and the recent results validating that approach, the Warriors’ roster is now full of veterans who are being asked to accept far different roles.

“You’ve got Klay, guys like CP and Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins), who are bona fide Hall of Famers and All-Stars, buying in like that, so everybody else has to buy in,” Looney said. “(But) we can’t win without him being good or without him being a key piece. Whether that’s starting or off the bench, we’re not contending without him being special.

“We all care about him. We all want him to succeed. We all want him to be great. So when he’s not doing well or his energy’s not great, it kind of weighs on everybody else. He knows that. Steve talked to him about that (in early January), and I think he’s been great for the last 20, 30 games. I think that kind of changed our season, changed the way that we’ve been playing.”

Kerr, who once persuaded Iguodala to embrace this sixth-man life and appears to have done it yet again with Thompson, raved about his recent handling of it all as well.

“He’s been great,” Kerr said. “His approach feels so much better than it was even a few weeks ago. This has been an emotional season for him. You guys know this. He’s been grappling with his mortality in some ways as an athlete. He knows how good he was six years ago, and he’s had a hard time reconciling everything after the injuries.

“The thing that we keep trying to convince him of is he’s still a hell of a player. But he’s at his best when he’s not pressing and he’s not stressed out (or) worried about trying to be the guy he was six years ago. I think coming off the bench has maybe helped in that regard. I just notice he’s more relaxed. His approach, his leadership in the locker room, it feels different, and I think he’s starting to get more comfortable with the role but also just kind of the bigger picture stuff that has been bothering him.”

And on those days when the doubts and frustration might return, he’ll have the Bird video just a few screen swipes away to lift his spirits.

“It’s on my phone,” Thompson said with a smile. “I’ll put that (compliment) in the same category as when Kobe (Bryant) called me and Steph great players with that killer instinct (in 2016). It means the world to me.”

(Photo of Klay Thompson: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)

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Published: 00:01 EST, February 20, 2024 | Updated: 03:12 EST, February 20, 2024

The last time Klay Thompson came off the bench was March 2012. He was 22, an unproven rookie. Monta Ellis started for him. Nate Robinson came off the bench next to him. The Golden State Warriors faced the LA Clippers. Chauncey Billups, now 47 and head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was on that Clippers team.

Thompson was initially elevated to the starting lineup due to Stephen Curry's ankle injury and the Monta Ellis trade. That Clippers game was the finale of Curry's third season. He left after nine minutes and would stay for the last month. By the time Curry returned the following season, Thompson was the entrenched starter. The Splash Brothers were formed.

More than a decade later, Thompson's streak of consecutive starts extended to 727 games. It ended Thursday night in Utah, the dominant story in the Warriors' eventual 140-137 victory.

Steve Kerr replaced his four-time NBA champion with Brandin Podziemski, a rookie who had recently outperformed Thompson and, according to the data, completed the five-man group better alongside Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green. When explaining the decision after the game, Kerr pointed out the gaudy stats of that lineup. They have defeated their opponents by 57 points in 107 minutes.

Numbers indicated that this step was rational and perhaps necessary. Thompson is scoring career lows from the field and from 3 this season. The Warriors are in their postseason lives, entering Thursday with a 26-26 record, 10th in the Western Conference.

But that didn't make the conversation any easier. Kerr said he had been thinking about it for a while and decided to do it Thursday, a night after Kerr again held Thompson out of the Warriors' closing lineup before inserting him as a floor spacer in the final minute and watching Thompson make a mistake. intentional and unwise mistake against the Clippers. He told Thompson about the decision Thursday morning in Utah.

“He wasn't happy about it,” Kerr told reporters. “I didn't expect him to be happy about it.”

But what a response Thompson gave. He came out scorching, posting his highest point total of the season before the third quarter was over. He had 17 points in 11 minutes of the first half, earning closing duties, including a nice transition find in the final minute of the second quarter to Green, who finished with 23 points, his most since 2018. The Warriors scored 84 in the first half. half.

“You can do two things: you can pout, or you can go out there and respond.”

Klay reveals how he changed his mindset when he came off the bench after talking to Kerr pic.twitter.com/jC9XALO57c

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 16, 2024

Thompson didn't cool off after halftime. He scored 18 in a torrid third quarter, giving him 35 points. There he finished with 13 of his 22 shots and seven of his 13 3s, an excellent performance that helped the Warriors hold off the Jazz in a shootout despite nearly giving away a big lead late. Thompson also made a huge defensive play with 74 seconds left, stopping a Keyonte George drive and forcing a trip. It was Thompson's best game of the season.

“The fuel that fueled his competitiveness was the decision I made,” Kerr said. “He's such a competitor. I've seen him hit a million big shots. I've seen him guard the toughest guys in the league. Klay is a champion. He's an incredible player, a great person. I am blessed to coach him. It has been a difficult season for him and for us. Many transitions are taking place. Some of our younger guys are coming up. It's not that easy to do for him what Klay did five or six years ago. I think this can be a good balance to get the best out of Klay and get the best out of our team.”

Kerr said he plans to keep Podziemski in the starting lineup and Thompson off the bench after the All-Star break. He said the move isn't “permanent,” but he wants to give it a healthy look.

“Klay coming off the bench gives us a lot of firepower,” Kerr said.

(Photo by Klay Thompson: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

A WOMAN has left people stunned after revealing how a drain leak led to her flat being covered in black mould.

She admitted that she had been asking her landlord to fix the leak for the past two years, but that he had “ignored” her request.

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And as a result, there was barely an inch of wall that wasn't covered in mold.

She started by showing the mold in the front room before taking the camera into the bathroom.

And again the mold covered the wall from floor to ceiling and even began to climb the ceiling.

After they get the video on Instagram she was flooded with comments from people telling her to leave the property for the sake of her health.

But other comments came from mold warriors, all eager to offer their suggestions to help.

“Use 1 cup of borax to 1 liter of hot or boiling water, adding a dash of lemon juice if it crystallizes or is difficult to dissolve,” one person wrote.

“Wait until it cools and put it in spray bottles.

“Spray directly onto the mold. Wipe off with a cloth.

“Repeat until it's all gone and don't rinse.”

They added: “Also, do not use bleach. It feeds fungal mycelium.”

While Borax – sodium tetraborate decahydrate – is more commonly used in the US, in Britain it can be purchased for around £2 per bag.

“Tear out the drywall and run a dehumidifier for a week, and then you may have gotten 'enough' of the moisture out to prevent future mold growth,” said another.

“At that point you can put the dry wall back in and refinish the room…

“The orange spots are scary!”

“Burn everything, there is nothing you can save but yourself,” said a third.

While others admitted it took them a while to realize they were looking at mold and not wallpaper.

“That's wallpaper, right? THAT'S WALLPAPER, RIGHT????” one said hysterically.

“Legit thought this was wallpaper,” another commented.

“Wow, that's such a beautiful wallpaper,” wrote a third.

“It looked like some kind of nice wallpaper at first. Jesus,” someone else said.

“At first I thought this was a really nice wallpaper,” agreed another.

“But oh no no no, that's not good.

“I pray this doesn't affect you internally.

“Bad landlord.”

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The definition of anticlimactic, courtesy of Dictionary.com: “An event, conclusion, statement, etc., that is far less important, powerful, or striking than expected.”

Does that sound about right, Los Angeles Lakers fans … Atlanta Hawks fans … Chicago Bulls fans … Sacramento Kings fans … and Golden State Warriors fans?

The list could go on from there, but that group of five teams makes up The Athletic’s inaugural All-Standpat Team for this year’s NBA trade deadline. The Milwaukee Bucks came close to making it but barely avoided the unflattering inclusion by landing a “Pat” from the Philadelphia 76ers — Beverley, that is — and potentially helping their awful defense.

As for the ones who did make it, this group is a mixture of alleged buyers and sellers who surprised the masses by keeping their underperforming teams intact. The motivations varied, but there’s one factor that it’s safe to say played a pivotal part for some of these teams: the league’s Play-In Tournament.

If there wasn’t more postseason wiggle room than before with 10 spots in each conference up for grabs rather than eight, then there would be an even greater need for each of these teams to take a long, hard look in the proverbial mirror and truly decide what they see in the reflection.

Instead, there’s a standings buffer that offers additional hope and, it seems, inspires cold feet when it comes to making the tough decisions.

That’s a broad generalization and hardly a one-size-fits-all explanation for this group. But let’s take a closer look at each situation and discuss what likely led to being inactive.

(Records and standings are from the time of the trade deadline.)

(27-25; ninth in the Western Conference) 

This much is clear: Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka didn’t see the Hawks’ Dejounte Murray as the kind of difference-maker who would vault his team back into a title contender. If he did, he would’ve put Austin Reaves into the offer like Atlanta had wanted and done the deal.

Truth be told, I can’t blame him. And even with LeBron James sending so many (Knicks-colored) smoke signals indicating a strong desire for the Lakers to make a significant move, this wasn’t the way to go.

While Reaves has his faults, the third-year guard is a very productive piece of the Lakers’ core (15.5 points, 5.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds per game) who is signed to a team-friendly deal through the 2025-26 season (with a player option worth $14.8 million in 2026-27). He’s homegrown too, which comes with some sentimental value. Losing him would have hurt.

Then there’s the D’Angelo Russell factor.

While there will always be a roller-coaster element to the D-Lo experience, and times when a bad matchup (last season’s Western Conference finals against Denver) might become a major issue, the gap between him and Murray isn’t so great that it justifies losing two key members of the Lakers rotation, a 2029 first-rounder and additional draft compensation to bring Murray to town. Especially when this core showed last season that it can make a legitimate run.

But this surely sets the stage for a compelling next few months as it relates to James and his uncertain Lakers future. He has a player option for next season, meaning the free-agency exit door will be wide open if this Lakers season ends so poorly that he wants to consider other options. The timing of it all could make for dramatic NBA theater too.

James has until June 29 to decide on his option, which is just two days after the conclusion of the draft. Why does that matter? Because the Lakers will be able to offer three first-rounders for a star player of their choice by then, meaning James’ view of their next few seasons could be changed for the better at the 11th hour.

What’s more, that’s when his dream of playing with his son Bronny could be fulfilled if the current USC player decides to enter the draft (and James finds a way to persuade his current team to select him). There could be a consolation prize for the Lakers on the buyout market too, with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reporting Thursday that they’re among the front-runners for Spencer Dinwiddie.

Hawks

(22-29; 10th place in the Eastern Conference)

Let’s just start by making this declaration on the Murray front: The price the Hawks paid in 2022 — three first-rounders, a first-round pick swap and Danilo Gallinari — has long since become a sunk cost. So if there’s any internal pressure to recoup those assets in a Murray deal to justify giving him up, that flawed logic needs to go.

The Hawks still have time to figure out the Murray situation (he’s signed through the 2026-27 season with a player option in 2027-28), and the fact that the market wasn’t strong certainly appears to have played a part.

Beyond the Lakers, the Brooklyn Nets were believed to be interested, and the New Orleans Pelicans were the only other known team to show interest near the end. However, according to a Pelicans source, those talks were never seen as serious from their side. New Orleans believes it was largely used as leverage (that didn’t work) against the Lakers.

In terms of Hawks surprises, I’m more stunned there wasn’t more discussion about some of their other guys. Whether it was Clint Capela, De’Andre Hunter or Bogdan Bogdanović, I thought for sure they’d be able to find a deal or two that could help reshape this roster a bit. But now with their Trae Young-centric culture intact and no objective observer convinced that their ceiling is anything more than a first-round bow out, it’s more of the same for the foreseeable future.

Jalen Johnson’s ascension has been a major bright spot, with the third-year small forward who was taken 20th from Duke in 2021 in the running for the NBA Most Improved Player Award. Beyond that, though, the Hawks had better hope second-year coach Quin Snyder has some serious X’s and O’s magic up his sleeves.

Bulls

(24-27; ninth in the East)

The Bulls might need to change their pregame theme music now, from the legendary “SIRIUS” instrumental by The Alan Parsons Project that sparks all those memories of Michael Jordan-led title teams to this 1973 ditty that is far more fitting in the modern day: “Stuck in the Middle with You” by Stealers Wheel.

That’s the harsh truth of these choices that they’re making with 87-year-old owner Jerry Reinsdorf prioritizing the chance to field a competitive team over a rebuilding pathway toward a younger core and true contention.

In that sense, it was almost perfect that they beat the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime two nights before the deadline. That sort of best-case-scenario showing, small sample size and all, is the kind of thing that likely confirmed this sort of ethos.

“This team is very competitive in every game,” vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas told the media after the deadline passed Thursday. “And we have aspirations to compete for the playoffs.”

Zach LaVine was likely staying put even if his season wasn’t cut short by right foot surgery recently. His massive contract (four years, $178 million) was proving to be a significant deterrent for potential suitors. But Alex Caruso ($9.4 million this season, $9.8 million next) is a different story with his market known to be robust and his two-way impact tailor-made for contenders.

Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan is still playing at a high level and will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. That’s typically a formula for a deal when a team is mired in mediocrity, but these Bulls will now look to keep the 34-year-old this summer. A league source with knowledge of DeRozan’s situation said he is happy there and would like to return — if the money is right.

Big man Andre Drummond was another bench player whose value has increased, with the Sixers and Knicks known to be interested. Again, though, no deal happened.

There’s real hope for the Bulls when it comes to Coby White, who like the Hawks’ Johnson, should be a serious candidate for Most Improved Player too. But because of Lonzo Ball’s unfortunate future — the 26-year-old is missing a second consecutive season because of chronic knee issues — the reasons for long-term optimism end there.

Kings

(29-21; seventh in the West)

The pressure from the Kings’ fan base to make any move was fairly significant, especially after the Kings lost to the lowly Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. While Sacramento is in a decent position to make the playoffs for just the second time since 2006, the locals’ hope of this team evolving into something even more dangerous this season has been fading of late. And with good reason.

So when the Kings did nothing of significance at the deadline, it came as no surprise that there was a sense of significant disappointment among their faithful. But the truth about the situation is that they made their most significant roster choices long before the deadline arrived — at least when it comes to the possibility of adding impact players.

They had extensive talks with Toronto about Pascal Siakam in mid-January, choosing not to make that deal after league sources said a deal was close. As I reported at the time, it didn’t help matters that Siakam, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, didn’t want to be in Sacramento long term (or short term). Considering the Indiana Pacers would later give up three first-rounders to land Siakam, it’s hard to argue with the Kings’ choice to hold onto those kinds of draft assets.

Even before that, the Kings had decided against making a serious pursuit of the Raptors’ OG Anunoby before he went to the Knicks in late December for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and a second-round pick. Team sources said the cost of retaining Anunoby in free agency this summer was a concern.

What’s more, the Raptors’ desire to land second-year Kings forward Keegan Murray also was known to be an obstacle. Again, it’s not hard to see why a deal didn’t go down. When it comes to other high-profile targets, the Kings had long since lost interest in the Wizards’ Kyle Kuzma.

Only time will tell if the Kings’ patience pays off, but there’s something to be said for not making that next big move too early if it’s not there. Just ask the Hawks.

Then again, it’s still less than ideal that they couldn’t find anyone to help inject some new life into their lineups. They were known to be interested in the Nets’ Royce O’Neale (who went to the Suns in a three-team deal) and Dorian Finney-Smith (who wasn’t traded). They had eyes for Washington’s Delon Wright and Miami’s Caleb Martin. But the trade dud-line theme continued in Sacramento too.

Warriors

(23-25; 11th in the West)

I probably covered the Warriors dynasty too closely for too long and with my eyes wide open in sheer awe for so much of that time. So when Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. chooses to lean into their storied history at this deadline, holding onto those hopes that Stephen Curry can lead them out of this darkness rather than rolling the dice on whatever deals came their way, I sort of get it. Even with all the bad basketball we’ve seen from this particular Golden State squad this season.

They won four titles in eight years and went to the NBA Finals six times in that stretch. Their last title was less than two years ago. There were signs of long-term hope in their second-round loss to the Lakers last season. And now, just four months into this season that has been so revealing in the worst kind of way, you’re surprised that they want more time to figure out how to forge a new future with Curry still at the center of it all? I am not surprised.

Andrew Wiggins was the only one who was out there in terms of trade talks by the time deadline week arrived. But as my “Tampering” podcast co-host and Warriors beat writer Anthony Slater discussed in our latest episode, Draymond Green’s recent return from his league-issued suspension has allowed the Warriors to play Wiggins and the emerging Jonathan Kuminga together much more effectively.

If their convincing win over Indiana on Thursday night was any indication, their quiet deadline was well received in the Warriors locker room.

As for the Klay Thompson situation, which was front and center this week when he discussed his basketball mortality with such vulnerability, that’s a bridge to be crossed when he becomes a free agent this summer. Ditto for Chris Paul, whose $30 million salary for next season is not guaranteed. Those answers, much like a new Warriors era, will come in time.

(Top photo of Joe Lacob and Mike Dunleavy Jr.: Rocky Widner / NBAE via Getty Images)

In the backyard of Draymond Green’s $10 million home in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood, where white columns and a marble patio overlook the greenest of grass, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr chatted with the heartbeat of his team.

Hours earlier, the Warriors had landed in Los Angeles to a whirlwind of drama. The night before, Dec. 12 in Phoenix, Green had protested an uncalled foul by spinning and flailing his arms. He struck Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the face, incurring a Flagrant 2 foul and automatic ejection. This was just shy of a month after his previous Flagrant 2, a five-second chokehold of Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert that landed Green a five-game suspension and a promise of harsher future league penalties.

So while the basketball world waited for the league’s latest punishment — an indefinite suspension that ended up lasting 12 games — and before the Warriors took on the host Clippers, Kerr visited Green for their latest heart-to-heart talk. These two have argued and debated. They’ve cursed each other out. They’ve strategized together. Bared their souls to one another. On this day, they cried together.

And Kerr came equipped with an appeal: “I want you to end this the right way. I want us to end this the right way.”

Discussing the end strikes a chord with Green. Kerr knew it would. He’s spent the last five years in the trenches with Green, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, warding off the inevitable. Fighting against basketball mortality. The way last season ended, and how this one has gone, they can hardly deny the end is nearing. Stalking them. They can feel its breath.

“We’re in a position where we’re getting older, trying to defend everything that we’ve done over the last decade,” Kerr said recently after practice, explaining his pitch to Green. “Let’s do it the right way. Let’s do it with dignity. Let’s do it with competitive desire. Let’s do it joyfully. What this team has been built on, and I think what attracts a lot of our fans, it’s not just the style but it’s the joy that the players feel, the competitive desire that sort of complements that. It’s been a wonderful combination.”

Since the NBA went to a two-round draft in 1989, only three players have made the Hall of Fame who were not selected in the first round: Toni Kukoč, Ben Wallace and Manu Ginobili. Two-time MVP Nikola Jokić is sure to join them. But not before Green, the No. 35 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. His next decade was worthy of a documentary.

That’s why it’s imperative for the 33-year-old Green, who is expected to return to game action Monday and has three years and over $77 million remaining on his contract, to end his career right. Because finality with a shot of regret is too strong an elixir. Over the last 15 months, he has been choreographing a conclusion that sullies the quality of his journey. His prominence has become more about flagrants and flails, suspensions and stomps, petulance and punches.

Green’s legacy should be a glorious one. An improbable legend, a four-time NBA champion born of the rare combination of skill, intellect and toughness. The chubby kid from rusty Saginaw, Mich., forged himself into an all-time great. A testament to the capacity of will, of what sports can blossom from unlikely soils.

“He was 285 pounds when I first got him,” said Tom Izzo, who coached Green at Michigan State.

Instead, his reputation is currently more about the problems he causes than the championship solutions he has delivered. But his teammates believe, his coach believes, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his enforcer, executive vice president Joe Dumars, believe there is a Draymond in there worth fighting to save. A legacy that deserves better punctuation.

“When I look back at these situations,” Green said last week, “it’s like, ‘Can I remove the antics?’ I am very confident I can remove the antics. And I am very confident if I do, no one is worried about how I play the game of basketball, how I carry myself in the game of basketball. It’s the antics. That’s the focus. It’s not changing who I am completely. You don’t change the spots on a leopard.”

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Kevon Looney’s AAU coach, Shelby Parrish, was in the Bay Area visiting, not long after Looney was drafted in 2015. Looney was showing his youth coach around and, next thing he knew, Green was hanging out with coach Parrish. They talked for at least an hour.

Then Green invited Looney and his guests to hang out at Halftime Sports Bar in Oakland. In the middle of the day, they were playing dominoes with Green. Parrish had the memory of a lifetime.

“The reason that he’s allowed to yell at people,” Looney said of Green, “and get animated is because he only wants to win and he puts the time in off the court. … When I first got here, any time there was a rookie, anytime somebody new came to the team, he’s the first person to take them in and take them out. Show ’em the town. Put them in touch with the people they need to know. That’s what he did for me. All my family and friends, he made them feel comfortable, like they were his family.”

Back in October, Trayce Jackson-Davis worked out in the team’s practice facility on the ground floor of Chase Center. The rookie big man, who turns 24 in February, was still getting accustomed to life in the NBA when he learned he would start at center against Sacramento in the third preseason game. Green, sidelined with a sprained left ankle, interrupted the rookie’s workout. He gave Jackson-Davis 10 minutes of pointers on defending Kings big man Domantas Sabonis. The four-time champion schooling the No. 57 pick. Green walked through how to give Sabonis space, how to hold his ground when Sabonis lowers his shoulder or digs in his elbow, and how to get into Sabonis’ body on rebounds.

“It was great, especially how nervous I was,” Jackson-Davis said, “being so early in the season. The vets, at that time, weren’t around. We hadn’t developed relationships yet. He didn’t have to do that. But it helped. Especially in the first quarter, I guarded him really well.”

The dynamics of the Warriors, of locker rooms, of relationships within teams helps explain why, even after his laundry list of violations over the years, Green is still a Warrior. Still welcomed. Still redeemable.

Loyalty.

It sounds like an oxymoron for a player who keeps letting his team down. Green’s inability to control himself and make sure he’s available for a team that desperately needs him could be seen as disloyalty. Watching the Warriors’ defense decline significantly without him underscores how much his absence hurts the Warriors.

“Part of that complexity,” Kerr explained, “is this intense loyalty to the team and to the organization, to his coaches. He’s loyal to me. We’ve definitely had our share of run-ins, but it’s all in the name of trying to win.”

“I think the people that he trusts and he believes in, he’d die for ’em,” Izzo said. “I know that sounds like a drastic statement. I believe it. I really do.”

Green is a dichotomy. Most aren’t privy to the countless impactful moments behind the scenes. That character is behind the patience he receives within the organization. It also fuels the hope he can rectify his name.

As Looney said, “There is way more good than bad.”

The one incident Looney doesn’t get behind, the one the Warriors all agree was the most wrong Green has been, was punching Jordan Poole in October 2022. Fresh off of a summer of basking in championship glory, Green again changed the narrative about himself when he attacked Poole in practice in an altercation that escalated too far. The video leak made it a permanent mark on Green’s record.

Striking Poole wasn’t motivated by winning, or loyalty, or getting the most out of his teammates. Of all the things Green has done, it’s the sin that’s been forgiven but not forgotten. And it continues to haunt the Warriors, as the spark of the more volatile version of Green that has been suspended four times for a total of 19 games in the last 10 months.

Green wasn’t suspended for the Poole punch. At the time, the Warriors believed a suspension wasn’t enough. They wanted him to live in the discomfort he caused. They kept his locker next to Poole, perhaps hoping they would reconcile. In the end, it just kept the discomfort alive, and Green had to live with it. His punishment was having to earn back the trust.

He did eventually. But accumulation is now a factor. Earlier in his career, Green could just go dominate and shut everyone up. That’s not so easy anymore. As the antics have increased, the winning has lessened. Now that the NBA is involved and increasingly punitive, the price of his antics is greater than it’s ever been. Green’s problems have become less a caveat of success and more a barricade in the way of it.

“Part of what drives Draymond is the insecurity that we all have in us,” Kerr said. “Most people don’t really want to admit vulnerability. He’s not Steph Curry. He’s not LeBron James. He can’t just ride on, ‘Well, I’ll go get 25 tonight.’ For him to play well, he has to be all in, emotionally and physically and spiritually. And there are times where And there are times where because it’s an 82-game season with all the drama, all the BS that’s out there … it eats at him. And then he can’t just rely on that skill … so then he’ll lash out. And when he lashes out, there’s repercussions.”

If anybody could be done with Green and his antics, it’s Kerr. But they’re so much alike, which Kerr made clear to Green in that backyard talk. Kerr, a five-time NBA champion as a player, knows what’s it like to become so maddened by his competitive drive. He’s been where Green is, so he knows where Green needs to go to deal with that consuming drive.

“It’s kind of deep s—, you know, that we’re talking about,” Kerr said. “Being vulnerable. That’s one of the things I’m encouraging him to do. Be more vulnerable. Just admit you’re wrong. There’s a power in that, you know? If he does, then he doesn’t have to explain himself. And if he’s not explaining himself, I think people will have more sympathy.”

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Green was expecting to be a first-round pick in 2012. He played four seasons at Michigan State, played in two Final Fours and as a senior was a consensus All-American.

But Green didn’t fit the NBA mold. He was seen as a “tweener” — a player whose combination of size and skill left him between the traditional positions. The 6-foot, 7 1/2-inch Green was considered too small to be a power forward and not athletic enough to be a small forward. None of his measurements added up to what he’s become.

But his immeasurables were off the charts. And the No. 1 attribute working on his behalf is still the thing mentioned first about him today. Draymond is synonymous with winning.

“You just don’t have that many people anymore for whom winning is the most important thing,” Izzo said. “You know, sometimes I get mad at him because his podcast takes up time. … But all these players have distractions. But with him, it’s about winning. If you need him to set a screen, get a rebound, make a pass, take a shot, never take a shot — whatever it is. I just don’t know enough people that put winning as the priority.”

When the Warriors drafted him in the second round, it was the perfect match. A franchise needing to build a winning culture landed a player with the formula it lacked. High basketball IQ. Defensive genius and leadership. Natural talent. Heart. And it was on display immediately.

At Summer League in 2012, the Warriors’ young players were in Las Vegas practicing and playing some high-intensity scrimmages. Harrison Barnes was the lottery pick that year. Festus Ezeli was the Warriors’ other first-round pick. Green wasn’t one of the prized young talents. Jeremy Tyler, a former high school sensation who was selected in the second round in 2011, was assigned to be Green’s mentor. That was until Tyler called a foul during the scrimmage in Las Vegas that Green thought was weak and a sign of his softness.

“He dropped him as his vet,” Barnes recalled in an interview with the Mercury News in 2015. “He said Jeremy couldn’t be his vet anymore.”

Months later, when the full team got together for pickup runs before training camp, Green was going at veteran David Lee, the Warriors’ lone All-Star at the time.

Green was this way at Civitan Recreation Center in Saginaw, when he was the little guy earning his keep on the court with the older kids. He was this way at Saginaw High, when he led his school to two state championships and a top-five national ranking as a senior. He was this way as a freshman at Michigan State, when he played six minutes in his debut and by the end of the season was a rotation player in the national championship game.

“A lot of my respect for Draymond comes from on the court,” Looney said. “I always took pride in being a tough guy, being tenacious, being relentless, always showing up and holding yourself accountable. And I always see him sacrifice the most. As a young player, I admired that. He’ll make every play.”

Before the antics, winning was Green’s clear legacy. It’s how he garnered respect, awe even. It’s his worth in a league full of bigger, more athletic and more talented players. It’s how he made four All-Star Games and earned two All-NBA nods, eight All-NBA Defense selections and a Defensive Player of the Year award.

“He’s the ultimate winner,” Kerr said. “A champion. This whole business is about winning. … Draymond, even though he can be hard to coach because of emotion, he is actually easy to coach because of his brain and his loyalty and his fight and his competitive drive. I’ll take those guys every day of the week.”

None of the Warriors’ success happens without Green. That’s the declaration in Kerr’s appeal to end the right way.

As the heartbeat, Green has shown he can will the Warriors to a higher level, but he’s also shown he can drag them into the muck. The same fire he used to help refine the Warriors into a dynasty has proven hot enough to burn what they’ve built.

Now, the journey begins, again, to see if the Warriors can rely on Green. If the reflection takes. If the counseling and growth sticks. If so, the Warriors can go out with class, celebrated for their valiance. That would fit their story, and Green’s. But they can’t end this right without him.

“My thing with him now is,” Izzo said, “can you take these last three years or whatever, and just focus in on this. Really leave the legacy that you deserve to have. And that’s as one of the greatest winners. That’s one of the tougher competitors. That’s a very good teammate.”

(Top illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; photo: Jane Tyska / Digital First Media / East Bay Times / Getty Images) 

Bengal Warriors relied on sublime defense as High 5s from Vaibhav and Shubham took them past Telugu Titans in a PKL 2023 match.

Mumbai: Bengal Warriors broke their four-match winless streak as they produced a stunning defensive performance to beat Telugu Titans 46-26 in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2023 match at the DOME by NSCI in Mumbai. Warriors defender Vaibhav Garje was the star player of the game, scoring an impressive 9 tackle points, while Titans captain Pawan Sehrawat bagged another Super 10.

Bengal Warriors were without their captain and top player Maninder Singh, but that gave Nitin Kumar an opportunity to hog the limelight. He disrupted the Telugu Titans’ defense with his ferocious strikes while the Warriors’ defensive duo of captain Shubham and Vaibhav were brilliant on the night. The Warriors needed seven minutes to take the first ALL OUT and take a 10-4 lead.

Titans captain Pawan was off color and their attacking unit could not fire on all cylinders as the Warriors’ defense was all-powerful. Vaibhav trapped Pawan in a perfect tackle to bring up his sixth tackle point within the first half itself and the Warriors completed the second ALL OUT on the eve of half-time. The former champions led by 17 points with the scorecard reading 27-10.

In the second half, the Titans put their best foot forward and fought for a comeback. They hit back through a quick run of points and their relentless efforts paid off in the 33rd minute when Pawan drove past Shubham and Aditya Shinde to inflict an ALL OUT. That move cut the Warriors’ lead to 9 points at 33-24.

However, Nitin denied the Titans any chance of a comeback when he escaped the clutches of Sandeep Dhull and Mohit during a clearance move to inflict a third ALL OUT on the Titans. With less than two minutes left, the score was 42-24 in favor of the Warriors. Shubham finished the match with tackles on Pawan and Robin Chaudhary to bring up his High 5 and his team’s 4th win of the season.

Haryana Steelers produced a defensive masterclass to beat the Bengal Warriors 41-35

New Delhi: The Haryana Steelers produced a defensive masterclass to beat the Bengal Warriors 41-35 at the DOME by NSCI in Mumbai. Mohit Nandal, Jaideep Dahiya and Mohit combined for 12 tackle points, which proved to be the difference between the teams on the day.

The match started in earnest with a SUPER RAID from Maninder in the third minute of the match as the Warriors took a slim lead early on. However, for most of the next 15 minutes, the Steelers kept the Warriors’ key player quiet, denying him a single point of attack. At the same time, their own raiders continued to take away points to score points.

The Warriors’ defense stepped up in the final minutes, taking away their opponents’ numbers, and soon Maninder moved in to clean up and administer the first ALL OUT of the game. The Warriors went into halftime with a 17-13 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Steelers to strike back in the second half, a Vinay strike helping them deliver an ALL OUT of their own and take a two-point lead. The match went from start to finish with neither side willing to retreat or race forward. Going into the final quarter of the match, the sides were level on points.

However, in the final period, the Warriors’ Raiders put pressure on the Steelers to reduce their numbers. It took a series of SUPER TACKLES for them to not only avert the ALL OUT, but maintain a valuable one-point lead. It made a huge difference, and having just come on as a substitute, Siddharth Desai scored a SUPER RAID with his first of the evening to extend that lead.

It made for a brilliant end to the game, with the Steelers fighting hard defensively to maintain their lead despite losing numbers, and the Warriors trying to pull out all the stops to put them in control. That never came, the Steelers defense held firm, initiated SUPER TACKLES and maintained their lead. In the final minute, Shivam Patare’s SUPER RAID gave them a seven-point lead with three men on the mat. They held on to get the win

By J. Peterson for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 01:39 EST, December 20, 2023 | Updated: 02:24 EST, December 20, 2023