By ALEX RASKIN, US SPORTS NEWS EDITOR
Published: 13:38 EST, 18 December 2025 | Updated: 13:45 EST, 18 December 2025
Veteran Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green has issued a warning to Kansas City Chiefs fans: Don't expect to see Patrick Mahomes next season.
The three-time Super Bowl champion suffered a season-ending knee injury on Sunday when he tore his ACL and LCL in a loss to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers.
Green has never torn his ACL and he hasn't played organized football since Michigan State's 2011 spring scrimmage. But he does know about the rigors of a professional sports, and as he told podcaster Jordan Schultz, Mahomes has an arduous rehabilitation ahead of him.
'These ACLs are really 10-to-12-month processes,' Green said. 'Although people do them in six or eight months, these things are 10-to-12-month processes.'
The Chiefs have been eliminated from postseason contention and could struggle to make the playoffs next season without Mahomes around for much of the season.
But to Green, those concerns are outweighed by the Chiefs' investment in Mahomes, who is still owed around $265 million remaining on the 10-year, $450 million extension he signed in 2020.
Draymond Green hopes Patrick Mahomes doesn't rush back from his torn ACL & LCL:
"People tend to forget. You live that injury everyday. You want to play with your kids, you live that injury. You get up off the couch, you like that injury. It impacts your way of life." pic.twitter.com/6Jlr67lYQM
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) December 18, 2025
Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl champion, suffered a season-ending knee injury on Sunday when he tore his ACL and LCL in a loss to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers
Mahomes
Draymond Green
'He's got another 10 years of football,' Green said of the 30-year-old Mahomes. 'So are you rushing back on five, six months? The investment in that guy is too big for that.
'If I'm the Chiefs, I'm looking at it like,' Green continued. 'We need to get the best backup we can get because we don't have him going into next year.'
The Chiefs do have an experienced backup in Gardner Minshew, who now has a few weeks to earn the starting job for next season until Mahomes' return. Minshew, 29, earned a Pro Bowl nod with the Indianapolis Colts in 2023 and had 46 starts across seven seasons in Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Las Vegas and Kansas City.
As for Mahomes, Green stressed that the better part of the next year will be challenging for the quarterback.
'He's a competitor, he's a champion, so he's going to do all he can to get back next year,' Green said. 'But I think people tend to forget that you're not just missing games or missing practice. You live that injury every day. You want to play with your kids, you live that injury. You get up off the couch, you like that injury. It impacts your way of life.'
Green's former Warriors teammate Klay Thompson famously tore his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals only to tear his Achilles tendon while rehabbing the following year. In total, he was away from the team for over 900 days.
Los Angeles ChargersKansas City Chiefs