Warriors’ Draymond Green says he’s ‘improving fast’ from ankle injury

All eyes were on Draymond Green during the Golden State Warriors media day on Monday after the veteran forward suffered an ankle injury that is expected to keep him out for an extended period of time.

Green told reporters that the injury came during a pickup game when he landed on Jonathan Kuminga’s foot, but he maintained an optimistic attitude about it.

“I was just playing pickup, was going up for a layup, came down on JK’s foot,” Green said. “But I feel good. I feel like I’m improving fast — I’m a pretty fast healer — so I feel like I’m improving fast, and it’s good. Didn’t quite foresee this coming into the season, but everything happens for a reason. I think I’m excited because we have a great performance team, and I’ll be in even better shape by the time — whenever that is — when I start playing.”

The Warriors announced Monday that Green’s injury would be reevaluated in two weeks, though Green told Andscape’s Marc Spears on Saturday that he expects to miss four to six weeks because of the injury.

Taking that estimate as literally as possible, that would put the Golden State forward’s return between the Oct. 29 game against the Rockets and the Nov. 11 game versus the Cavaliers.  The Dubs’ regular-season opener is Oct. 24 against the Suns.

As far as ankle sprains go, Green said this one is far from the worst one he’s suffered in his career. 

“I’ve had some bad ones,” the veteran said. “It could have been as bad. I thought it was gonna be, especially initially, but I’ve had some bad ones, and you know, it’s tough, but it’s fine.”

Green also noted that he’s going into the 12th season of his career, and missing training camp at this point isn’t nearly as bad as it would be if he were new to the league.

It’s still not ideal for the Warriors to have one of the roster’s cornerstones missing for the first month-plus of the season. Green signed a $100 million extension this offseason, which was a signal from the Dubs that they want him to be part of the team’s future as the organization tries to maximize the chances of a title during Steph Curry’s ongoing prime. This contract also came after he was responsible for ruining the team’s vibe before last season when he punched the now-departed Jordan Poole in the face, demonstrating the trust Golden State still had in him after that incident and his less-than-stellar playoff performances.

The only silver lining here: Questions about who’s going to start for the Warriors among Curry, Green, Klay Thompson, Kevon Looney, Andrew Wiggins and the newly acquired Chris Paul will answer themselves for a bit. However, that seems to only be a temporary benefit for coach Steve Kerr, who will go back to facing those questions whenever Green’s return grows near.