Warriors’ Draymond Green says he’s rediscovered ‘love for the game,’ wants to be DPOY again

SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green says he has found “love and joy for the game” again after two up-and-down seasons.

Green, 31, made the proclamation after leading the Warriors — now a league-best 15-2 — to another dominating win against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.

“I’ve just kind of found that love again,” Green said following the 119-104 victory. “Kind of go through a lot of s— and the love kind of wanes a little bit. But I’ve just found that love and joy for the game and I’m just enjoying playing basketball and controlling what I can control. A point of emphasis for myself this year was simply to control what I could control. That means on the court, that means with the referees, that means off the floor — that’s just a step in my life and I think it shows on the basketball court.”

Green acknowledged that his children have played a major role in his desire to prove that he’s one of the best basketball players in the NBA again. After helping the Warriors reach five straight NBA Finals between 2015 and 2019, some around the league wondered if Green could still play at the highest level after two lackluster seasons in which he battled various injuries and inconsistencies.

For his part, Green said the motivation he has gotten from his family has helped propel his impressive start to the season — he’s averaging 8.1 points, 7.6 assists and 7.5 rebounds while playing high-level defense.

“My son is getting older, my oldest daughter — she’s 7 now — they kind of get on my ass if we lose,” Green said. “So that’s motivation. And I think for me also, I’ve been s— the last couple years, so my kids don’t really understand how good I am. And I want them to see how good I am so they’ll have an understanding. And so that is motivation for me. When I was playing at the top of my level, which I’m getting back to that now, they were like 3 and 1, so that is motivating for me to play well in front of them so they have an understanding of…