Saturday night at Chase Center isn’t just another game. It’s a collision between two franchises clinging to different kinds of hope, anchored by two players whose careers tell opposite stories about what it means to show up. The Warriors sit at 10-10, treading water without Stephen Curry, searching for identity in a season that’s starting to feel slippery. The Pelicans are 3-16, dead last in the West, drowning in the kind of despair that makes you question everything you thought you knew about building a contender.
And at the center of it all? Draymond Green versus Zion Williamson. Again.
Let’s talk about what Zion has actually done this season, because the numbers tell a story his highlight reels won’t. Through nine starts, he’s got one win. One. His team is 1-8 when he takes the floor, and he’s posted a double-double exactly once. Look at his game log and you’ll see a player who dropped 27 points twice in late October, then disappeared into a string of “Inactive” tags that stretched from November 4th through November 17th.
One Pelicans writer put it perfectly in his article “Pelicans must be cautious as Zion Williamson gifts dangerous measure of hope”: A few good games can’t distract you from the glaring health issues.
Here’s what those health issues actually mean: Zion has missed over an insane number of games since entering the league. We’re talking over three full NBA seasons that never happened. Three years of development, chemistry, and playoff experience that vanished into injury reports. Break it down year by year and the pattern becomes painfully clear. 48 games as a rookie, 11 the next year, then a healthy 82-game campaign that made everyone believe. Then 53, then 12, now just nine games played.
Meanwhile, Draymond Green is currently fighting to keep his team steady despite hellacious scheduling and frustrating injuries. He’s anchoring the 8th-best defense in the NBA. He’s switching one through five, protecting the rim at 6’5”, doing his damndest quarterbacking an offense without its best player.
Remember when Kenyon Martin rattled off 200 power forwards supposedly better than Draymond? The basketball world had a good laugh. But here’s what Martin and everyone else conveniently forgets: Draymond Green didn’t just play power forward during Golden State’s dynasty. He redefined what the position could be. Remember the hope from the Pelicans that Zion would become like Draymond when David Griffin compared them back in 2019?
Griffin envisioned Zion as “an extremely athletic Draymond Green type who may be able to facilitate all things for others.” It felt aspirational then. It feels almost cruel now.
The crystallization of that for me was when two matched up last year in October, we got a masterclass in what separates good players from great ones. Draymond held Zion to a career-worst 25 percent shooting, making the 284-pound force of nature look completely lost. Green matched his physicality in the post and at the rim despite being several years his senior. Steve Kerr said it best: “He’s still one of the best defenders in the world, that’s for sure. The way he battled out there, the way he led and his energy. He was fantastic.”
Draymond built his legacy on showing up every single night, on being one of the smartest players on the floor, on understanding that basketball genius matters more than athletic superiority. We’re talking nine All-Defensive Team selections, aDefensive Player of the Year award, four championships, and four All-Star berths. A decade of production that redefined what a modern power forward could be.
Zion has shown flashes that captivate the crowd, but flash doesn’t build dynasties. Availability and consistency does. Saturday night offers both teams a chance to stop the bleeding. The Warriors need to prove they can survive without Curry. The Pelicans need to prove they can win with Zion. One of these needs feels realistic. Draymond will be heavily featured in the latter not happening tonight.
The ball tips at 5:30 PM, get your popcorn ready!