The WNBA fever has taken over the basketball world, with several NBA players and coaches showing a great deal of interest in the women’s game. However, only a few have been as invested as Golden State Warriors superstar Draymond Green. The Dubs veteran has not only been keeping an eye on everything that’s been unfolding on the court, but recently, something interesting off the court caught the four-time NBA champion’s eyes and sparked an interesting conversation.

As we all know, apart from being a tireless defender on the court, Green is also a great businessman, and as expected, that’s a huge reason why he’s been taking an active interest in the WNBA. Yesterday, the 35-year-old posted a screenshot from ESPNW’s Instagram page that depicted the WNBA having set a new attendance record of over 2.5 million this year. While this is spectacular news, it’s not what caught Green’s attention. Instead, his focus was on the picture that accompanied the stat, which featured rookie Paige Bueckers.

Green captioned his post, “So I just came acrosss this post on ESPNW IG… and I found the picture interesting. Is there a shift happening?” He asked the threads community if there was a change happening around the league. Soon, this was noticed by ESPN journalist Ramona Shelburne, who replied to the forward’s question. “Yes, people are following the league day to day now, and it’s turning into attendance gains. I’d also be very curious how the Valkyries’ attendance data is impacting this number.” She responded.

While Shelburne did give great input, suggesting it will be interesting to see how the newly added Golden State Valkyries are impacting this data, that’s not what Green was interested in knowing. So, he reframed his question to Shelburne. “I’m speaking more about Paige. They spoke of all-time attendance and showed Paige, who plays for Dallas, but doesn’t have top 3 in attendance. Is Paige quickly becoming the face of The W?” Green suggested.

The Warriors star asked if Bueckers is on her way to dethrone Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark from her spot as the face of the league. Shelburne quickly chimed in on this debate and suggested that if you were to compare both Clark and Bueckers’ numbers from their rookie season, they are pretty identical. While Clark has more assists, the Dallas Wings guard is a better defender. After hearing this, Draymond Green asked Shelburne what this battle could look like five years down the road.

Her reply? Well, she suggested that a lot will depend on whether Paige can turn Dallas into WNBA contenders. Green agreed with the ESPN journalist while firing a warning to the Wings’ front office. “Yes, in order to be in the race, she has to. But does she do it? They need to now build the team properly. They’re holding on to the wrong pieces.” He suggested. The Warriors star was concerned about whether Dallas can build around Paige, as they are holding onto some wrong players.

Now, the Golden State Warriors’ big man did not get into details about who the wrong pieces on the Wings team are; he certainly indicated that for Paige Bueckers to be in the race against Caitlin Clark to be the face of the league, the Dallas Wings have to build a solid team around her. So, it should be interesting to see whether the front offices listen to Draymond Green’s advice. Meanwhile, Green dwells deeper into the WNBA by giving a shoutout to Jessica Shepard.

Draymond Green gives a shoutout to Jessica Shepard after her historic performance

The Minnesota Lynx have by far been the best team in the WNBA, led by MVP frontrunner Napheesa Collier. However, she was sidelined with an ankle injury as the Lynx had to lean other their other stars for help in their massive matchup against the Indiana Fever. While Kayla McBride was one who stunned everyone by putting up a solid 29-point performance, it was Jessica Shepard who really stood on business. The star forward dropped a historic performance against the Fever.

She put up a triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds. However, what made her performance historic was the fact that she became the first WNBA player to register a triple-double while shooting 90 percent or better from the field, as she went 10 of 11 from the field. If that wasn’t enough, she also recorded the fastest triple-double in WNBA history, reaching the feat while the game was still in the third quarter.

So, it’s no surprise that this insane performance by Shepard not only made waves in the WNBA but also impressed Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green. The 35-year-old center took to Threads to give Jessica Shepard her flowers. “Jessica Shepard cooking The Fever,” he wrote. “22/10/11 and 10/11 from the field is OD!” This performance has put the Lynx star in the public eye, and this shoutout is a sign of respect, as everyone is keen to see what she does next.