Draymond ‘afraid’ about calf injury, taking cautious rehab approach originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Draymond Green is not taking any chances with his calf injury.

The Warriors star explained the nature of his injury and his approach to rehab while talking to Baron Davis on Tuesday’s episode of “The Draymond Green Show.”

“My thing coming into this season [has been] if I’m healthy, I’m on the court,” Green told Davis. “Over the last few games, I’ve been a bit beat up but still feeling healthy enough to get out there on the floor and try to help my team. I started to get this calf tightening in my left calf. In 2022, leading up to me missing those three months, there were games where [I felt my] left glute [was] really tight. It would loosen up a bit then come right back.

“And I’m like ‘Oh, that’s a symptom because I’ve been playing games,’ and I didn’t know what I was up against. So this time, some of the symptoms that I felt, I’m able to better navigate and knowing, ‘All right, you felt this, you may need to slow down.’ ”

Green currently is battling a left calf issue that flared up during the Warriors’ loss to the Phoenix Suns last Saturday. Given the touchy nature of injuries to the calf muscle, Green is a bit concerned, though he believes that resting it now will allow the issue to resolve itself.

“I’ll be 100 percent honest, I’m a little afraid,” Green said to Davis “But in saying that, I have confidence in our staff. I have confidence that I’m getting ahead of it right now because the smart thing to do is to catch it right now while I’m already getting these symptoms.”

While Golden State started the season hot, the team has lost four games and is reeling from injuries to Green, Steph Curry and De’Anthony Melton.

The franchise must rely on its deep bench to pick up the slack on offense and defense with a stretch of pivotal games ahead. While the Warriors are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff picture, they cannot afford to drop too far behind in the standings heading into the heart of the season.

So long as Green continues his cautious approach to recovering from the injury, he should have no issues returning to the court sooner rather than later.

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