Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is always going to call it like it is, and he made it clear that Brandin Podziemski's latest comments about his future with the team may have been a bit too overzealous.
Podziemski recently said that he wants to be better than point guard Stephen Curry, the undisputed greatest shooter of all time. It is a bold statement and one has to respect the confidence of the 22-year-old, but Green knows the young buck probably went a little to far.
Draymond Green has offered some veteran advice to Brandin Podziemski
"And so with him I say: be careful. Don’t tell people too much. Because the more you tell people, the more they try to use it against you and tear you down," Green said of Podziemski's bold comments.
Green made sure to acknowledge that he likes when a young player is confident and that he'd rather that than a player who needs confidence instilled in them. Still, his "be careful" admonition lets everyone know that Podziemski probably went a little too far.
Coming into his third season in the NBA, the honeymoon period is reaching the end for Podziemski. His mistakes and bumps in the road were tolerated in his first two seasons because he was a young player still learning the ropes, but now that he is maturing as a player and making bold proclamations, he is going to have to back it up on the court to retain a starting role and develop into the future star he wants to be.
He saw some improvements from year one to year two, as he averaged 9.2 points per game in his rookie campaign and bumped that up to 11.7 in his second season with the Warriors. Many people are going to want to see an even bigger jump in production from year two to three, meaning the pressure will be on the former 19th overall pick.
Podziemski is going to be a member of Golden State's starting lineup this season which is a vote of confidence from head coach Steve Kerr, but there are already exciting young talents behind him who are going to keep him on his toes. If he struggles early this season, he could find himself on the outside looking in.
Despite Green's warning, it is nice to see a young player who believes in himself and wants to strive for greatness. It may be easier for everyone involved if he kept some of his loftier goals to himself, but Podziemski at the very least has the self-belief to be a big contributor for the Warriors this season.