BEFORE THE NBA
Draymond Green
Draymond Jamal Green on March 4th, 1990 in Saginaw, Michigan to Mary Babers and Wallace Davis. His parents divorced when he was an adolescent, and he grew up in a poor neighborhood inside a tiny 3-bedroom home with his brothers and sisters.
His junior year in high school, Draymond averaged 25 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals. That season, he led Saginaw to a 26-1 record and the Class A State Championship. During his senior season, he averaged 20 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocked shots. He led his team to a second consecutive state title. His No. 32 jersey was later retired at his high school.
For most of Draymond’s first season at Michigan State, the 6-foot-7 forward did not play much. He averaged just 3.3 points and 3.3 rebounds, but as a sophomore his numbers increased to almost 10 points, close to eight rebounds and three assists. He won the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year that season.
He helped lead Michigan State to the Final Four his junior year and the Sweet 16 his senior year.
According to SpartansWire, Draymond is the only college player ever to record 2 triple doubles in the NCAA tournament.
Draymond started 27 games as a junior and recorded a pair of triple-doubles, including 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the first-round NCAA Tournament loss to UCLA.
As a senior, Green averaged 16 points, almost 11 rebounds and close to four assists. He won Big Ten Player of the Year that season. He had another triple-double in the NCAA tournament his final year at Michigan State.
For his college career, Draymond grabbed 1,094 rebounds, the most in Spartan history. He entered the 2012 NBA Draft and was drafted by the Golden State Warriors.
Now, let’s look at the other side of the NBA player comparison for Draymond Green.
METTA WORLD PEACE
Ronald William Artest was born on November 13th, 1979 in Queensbridge, New York. As a child, Metta World Peace struggled with anger issues. His father told ESPN magazine that a lot of his son's anger came about because of his family falling apart. He eventually was sent to anger management therapy to see a counselor. The counselor recommended an outlet for his anger, so basketball was suggested.
He also had to deal with heavy emotion after he lost his little sister to sudden infant death syndrome in 1995.
Metta World Peace started getting good at hoops at a young age while helping get his intense emotions out and played AAU ball.
Metta World Peace graduated from LaSalle Academy high school in 1997. It’s noted that Young Ron Artest would elbow bigger players and would step on their feet just to scare them.
He went on to play college at St. John’s University. He was coached by Fran Fraschilla, who also had a fiery personality. His coach told Metta how important he would be for the team's success. For St. John’s, Metta was as physical in college as he was in the NBA. He ended up averaging 13 points, a little over six rebounds, three assists and almost 2 steals and blocks per game. The Red Storm went 50 and 19 during his time there.
In the 1997-98 NCAA tournament, St. John’s lost to Detroit Mercy. In that game Metta World Peace had 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The next year he was able to help his team advance, and they won their first three games before eventually losing to Ohio State. He had a double-double in the first round with 17 and 10 versus Samford University.
After two years at St. John’s, Metta World Peace decided to enter the NBA draft where he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls.
NBA STATS AND ACCOLADES
What does Basketball Reference say?
What does Land of Basketball say?
What does StatMuse say about Draymond Green and Metta World Peace?
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