HOUSTON – When Draymond Green stepped onto the main court at Toyota Center for practice on Sunday, USA Basketball czar Jerry Colangelo met him and spent a few minutes discussing Green’s latest self-inflicted distraction for the 2016 Olympic team. Colangelo didn’t have to chastise or condemn Green’s blunder – posting an inappropriate photograph of his penis on social media – but wanted to remind the All-Star forward that he’s under enough scrutiny to attract unnecessary attention.
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Green mostly nodded as Colangelo spoke, then sat down to apologize and explain how he could be involved in another embarrassing incident fewer than two weeks after reaching a plea deal with East Lansing, Mich., prosecutors for an assault charge from earlier this summer. After initially claiming on Twitter that the Snapchat account that posted the image was “hacked,” Green fessed up and admitted he simply erred in publishing it to the masses.
“It was a situation where it was meant to be a private message. I hit the wrong button. Sucks,” Green said, arms folded as he spoke. “It was meant to be private. We’re all one click away from placing something in the wrong place, and I suffered from that this morning.”
Green immediately recognized the mistake and deleted the picture, but not before realizing he was too late: The public had been exposed to his privates. “I figured it out pretty quick. In this world, quick ain’t quick enough. Once it’s out, it’s out,” Green said before repeating himself. “Quick ain’t quick enough in this world.”
The Snapchat fiasco comes at time when Green was using the social media tool as an instrument to have fun with his Olympic teammates. He’s captured Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins while they were sleeping, and Irving and Jimmy Butler singing Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” to the disdain of Carmelo Anthony.
In addition to his initial account hack excuse, Green also expressed on Twitter that he, “Can’t win right now.” The past few months have been challenging for Green, with the 73-win Golden State Warriors blowing a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals, in part because Green was suspended one game for hitting LeBron James in the groin. A week before joining Team USA for training camp in Las Vegas, Green was arrested for allegedly slapping Michigan State football player Jermaine Edmondson at a bar, which lead to the plea deal in which a misdemeanor assault charge was dropped in exchange for accepting responsibility for a noise violation. But Green refused to mope about his recent misfortunes.
“I’m in a great position in my life,” Green said. “There’s so many things going on this world, that for me to sit and complain and say I can’t catch a break, I’m living my dream. And there’s so many people who struggle on a daily basis, that’s going through the struggle on a daily basis that, for me to sit here and say I can’t catch break because I was suspended a game in the Finals, or to say I can’t catch a break for this situation. I’m living my dream. I’m playing in the Olympics. To say I can’t catch a break, that’s disrespectful to everybody, because how many people get to live out their dream? I’m not going to sit here and throw myself a pity party. I’m fine. I get to joke around with these guys all day. Then get to go and do what I love for my country, I’m fine.”
Green is slowly becoming more aware that his gaffes are amplified and don’t just go away with the delete button. But he hasn’t arrived at that place where he can get out of his own way, even as his profile continues to rise.
“I mean, this is what I asked for. I asked to be in this position. I worked to be in this position. And it comes with the territory,” Green said. “But I truly believe that we all go through points in our lives that propel us to the next level and I think I’m at a stage right now where all this stuff will help propel me to the next level as a basketball player, but more importantly, as a man. [/restrict]