The Warriors will return to regular-season action on Thursday against the Portland Trail Blazers in the Pacific Northwest. For now, All-Stars Draymond Green, Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins are Cleveland for the NBA’s midseason showcase.
While Curry (Team LeBron) and Wiggins (Team Durant) will both be in the starting lineups for Sunday’s 5 p.m. PT All-Star Game tip-off, Green will be broadcasting on TBS with the “Inside the NBA” crew – Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith. Obviously, Green would love to be on the floor after being voted in as a reserve by the league’s 30 coaches, but he’s still sidelined by a back injury that’s kept him out since Jan. 9.
Before bantering with Cavaliers fans at practice, Green spoke to reporters Saturday at his All-Star media day session and gave the latest update on his lower back injury that involves his left L5-S1 disc, but also affected his calf.
“I feel really good,” Green said. “I’m making a lot of good progress. I’m just kind of building back.”
The Warriors are patiently awaiting the return of their valuable veteran, who was the chief reason behind the team’s league-best 104.6 defensive rating before the break. Golden State has stumbled lately, losing four of its last five while featuring porous defense. Green’s injury has essentially caused him to miss the past 21 games (he played seven ceremonial seconds with Klay Thompson), when the Warriors have gone 13-8.
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Green said he doesn’t know when he’ll be back quite yet.
“I don’t really have an exact date,” Green said. “Just kinda taking it week by week, and just going along as I can progress. I’ve really started to ramp my workouts up more and more. I’ll just continue to do that through this break and coming out of the break, kinda see where that falls. Definitely feeling really good about where I am. Just continue to work.”
A couple of weeks ago Green said he hoped to return by the end of February. Second-year center James Wiseman played 5-on-5 scrimmages last week and could be return for the playoff push, as well. The regular season wraps up on April 10 and Golden State could use their interior presence.
“When I’m ready, I’m ready,” Green said. “I’m not going to rush back and try to get back out there before I feel like I’m all the way 100 percent right.”
