Draymond Green says GG Jackson's 23 points against the Warriors was personal
GG Jackson set the NBA world on fire with his 23-point game against the Golden State Warriors on Monday night. The former Gamecock is taking the NBA by storm after stealing the show in Draymond Green’s return from a hefty suspension.
The Warriors have been the dynasty of the NBA in the past decade. Stephen Curry, Green and Klay Thompson need no introduction.
Jackson’s performance against the big three left an impact on all of them. Green shared a few stories about Jackson from Monday’s game on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show.
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“At halftime, he waited for Steph at the half court line and said to Steph, ‘Man, I got un-invited from your camp,’ which I thought was interesting,” Green said. “Steph told us after the game he’s like, ‘He got uninvited from the camp. We filled up on spots and so they had to like put some invites back.’ So after the game, I learned that it was very personal for GG.
“Not only was it like, Oh, I’m getting the chance to play against Steph Curry. But he found this extra added motivation of the un-inviting me from the Steph Curry camp.”
Jackson is the youngest player in the NBA currently and has seen a big uptick in minutes for the Grizzlies. He had been putting up big numbers in the G League, which is why Memphis is giving him his shot.
“You’ve got to give those young guys some credit. GG Jackson man, he got off,” Green said. “He shot the ball like he was Klay Thompson. He was also catching the ball like no hesitation and raising up.”
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Jackson also went viral for several different things after the game, including his reaction to hearing Shaquille O’Neal on the NBA on TNT postgame show. Complimenting his game and ability to motivate himself is one thing. But yet another thing that Green mentioned was that Jackson knew basketball well.
“We were standing at the free throw line and he said, ‘Man, it’s an honor to play against you. I’ve watched you win championships.’ When you get things like that from young guys it is one of the most rewarding feelings,” Green said. “It also shows you that again who’s the students of the game and who’s not.”
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This is high praise from one of the most established group of veterans in the league. It seems as if Jackson is doing everything right so far in his young NBA career.
“You start saying stuff like that because that means you’ve been watching, that means you’ve been paying attention and been appreciating,” Green said. “But you’ve been watching and learning and so I’m not surprised that a kid like that can go have a game the way he did, because it’s those things you know with Steph, what he said to me, it’s like no, this kid. He’s a student of the game.”
