Draymond Green practiced with his Warriors teammates today for the first time since injuring his lower back in early January, writes Kendra Andrews of ESPN.
Green went through 5-on-0 conditioning and participated in shooting drills and “a lot” of other drills during today’s session. He told Andrews that he has improved a lot in the weeks since suffering the injury.
“My progress has been tremendous,” Green said. “I think, where I am today, if you knew where I was eight weeks ago or seven weeks ago, it’s night and day.”
Green was cleared to resume basketball activities in late January, but he was limited to individual workouts until today. A lot of those involved lifting weights, and Green said he can feel the benefits.
“I’m stronger than I’ve ever been in my life,” he said. “… I spent six weeks just sitting in the weight room, working in there for four, five hours a day.”
According to Andrews, the Warriors’ training staff will monitor Green’s conditioning, strength and explosiveness to determine when he can resume scrimmaging and eventually return to game action. There are no set standards that Green has to reach, and the decision will be determined by his progress.
During coverage of Sunday’s All-Star Game, Green estimated that he might be ready in three to four weeks. He was less definite today, but said he anticipates playing in at least a few games before the regular season ends.
“As soon as I feel like I’m whole and can get back out there and get my feet back under me before the playoffs, great,” Green said. “If that’s 15 games, fantastic. If it’s 10, I’ll make do. If it’s five, then five is going to have to work.”