Although No. 11 Michigan State couldn’t fend off the No. 10 Duke Blue Devils 87-75, it was still a memorable night in East Lansing due to one former Spartan turned Golden State Warrior.
Draymond Green’s No. 23 Spartan jersey was raised into the rafters in Michigan State’s Breslin Center for retirement in front of a packed crowd.
The Saginaw, Michigan product led the Spartans to two Final Four appearances and three Big Ten regular-season championships. Green was a consensus first-team All-American, NABC Player of the Year and Big Ten Player of the Year, all in 2012. Now his white and green No. 23 jersey will be immortalized in the Michigan State arena forever.
Here are some of the highlights from Green’s memorable night in East Lansing:
DubNation in the building
Several members of the Golden State Warriors organization made the trip to East Lansing to support Green on his special night. Warriors owner. Joe Lacob, general manager, Bob Myers, and Steve Kerr were all in attendance. Other members like Zaza Pachulia, D’Angelo Russell, and Klay Thompson were in the building.
Green said the type of support his teammates and coaches showed was a reason why he wants to stay with Golden State forever.
“Not one person would have said they were wrong if they didn’t come here — it’s my college jersey getting retired,” Green said in his jersey retirement press conference, via Noah Trister of the Associated Press. “They took the time out of their schedule to be here for me. Those are the things that make you say, ‘OK, I want to be there for the rest of my career.’ And I would do anything for that organization to help make that happen.”
Draymond showing emotion
The former Defensive Player of the Year is a passionate and fiery competitor on the basketball court; we rarely get to see the softer side of Green, the person. When handed the microphone to address the Michigan State crowd, Green became a bit emotional when talking about getting to live out his childhood dreams.
“As a kid from Saginaw, Michigan, my goal and dream was to play at Michigan State, it was never to get my jersey retired, and I lived that dream.” Green said during his halftime ceremony.
Respect from around the NBA
Green is a polarizing player across the NBA, but on the night of his jersey retirement, former stars from Michigan State reached out to congratulate the Warriors forward on the honor.
Jaren Jackson, Denzel Valentine and Miles Bridges all reached out to Green via a video compiled by “Uninterrupted.” Former Golden State “We Believe” star, Jason Richardson, also made an appearance to congratulate Green.
