The debate over eras in the NBA never really disappears. Every time injuries start piling up or load management comes up, comparisons between modern stars and the legends of the 90s quickly return to the forefront. Now that the debate has resurfaced following Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr’s controversial comments, his player, Draymond Green, has weighed in.

“The pace that the game is played at now and the pace that the game was played at in the 90s is drastically different,” Green said on his Draymond Green Show podcast. “Like the fastest-paced team in the 90s would probably be the slowest-paced team today. It’s drastically different.”

He’s not wrong. Take the fastest team between the 1989-90 and 1998-99 seasons, the Golden State Warriors, who logged a pace of 97.51. Now compare that with the slowest-paced team since 2019-20, the LA Clippers, and even they log a pace of 97.93, and Green’s argument starts feeling quite compelling.

Green pointed out that the sheer tempo of the modern NBA changes everything about the physical toll on players. The 90s featured many slow half-court sets, but todays perimeter centric game demands constant movement and transition play as well as off-ball action, forcing players to cover a lot more ground throughout a game.

That shift shows up in the injury report. Just this season, we’ve seen many stars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, Austin Reaves, and others forced to sit out due to hamstring, quad, calf, and groin injuries. However, Green pointed out that them sitting out isn’t necessarily on the players.

“Most of the time that’s not really players,” he said. “Most of the time that’s the team saying that because they have all this data… ‘You’re at a high risk of injuring this, like you should take a game off tonight.’

Draymond Green Backs Up What Steve Kerr Had Previously Claimed

Draymond Green’s comments now are just a reflection of his coach, Steve Kerr. Just a few days ago, Kerr was asked about the first change he would make if he were in charge of the league, and he didn’t even have to think about it.

“We need to play fewer games,” he told the media. “We need to take 10 games off the schedule. I think it would be great for the league… I think it would be a more competitive and healthier league if we played fewer games.”

Green admitted on his podcast that the coach’s comments “makes sense,” especially when the issue isn’t just about the risk of injury, but the quality of product on the court. He said that the “dumbed down” product that would result from “tired guys playing against tired guys.”

At the same time, the Warriors veteran admitted that the reality of a potential change is unlikely.

“No one’s taking less money,” Green said. “The TV rights are sold. Just about every team own an arena. They need to fill these nights in these arenas.

For now, it doesn’t seem like a shorter season is going to be a reality anytime soon.