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Former Dubs Player Festus Ezeli Claims That Draymond Green Is Golden State’s Most Important Player

The Golden State Warriors are making noise this season and have now won 43 games, which has them sitting in the third spot in the Western Conference. While they remain in good position, there’s no question that they need a healthy Draymond Green back on the court to be a contender.

Green has now missed 28 games for the Warriors this season, and in those games, the team has put up a record of 15-13. Draymond’s impact, especially on the defensive end has also been evident, as the team went from posting a 101.9 defensive rating with him to 110.6 during his absences.

Now, former Warriors big man Festus Ezeli has plenty to say about Draymond during his interview on SiriusXM NBA Radio. According to Ezeli, the 31-year old defensive anchor is Golden State’s most important player.

“Draymond is the most important key to this team. Why? Because they built a system around him. They built a system around the 3 guys which is Draymond, Steph and Klay. He might not be the best player on the team, but he’s the most important.

This year, they’re deciding that small-ball is the way we’re gonna go… for that to be effective, we need our Defensive Player of the Year in the back to anchor us. That’s why they went out to this huge lead to start the season, they’re 2nd in the NBA still, even with going 14-11 in the last games.

When you miss a guy like Draymond, who calls out all the coverages, who sets great screens for Steph and Klay to get open, who is the leader and the heart of the team…of course you’re going to miss Draymond.”

“They built a system around him.”

Hear former @Warriors center @FestusEzeli tell @talkhoops & @LegsESPN why Draymond Green is the most important player in Golden State.#DubNation pic.twitter.com/Gq4fHzbgVb

— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) March 2, 2022