One of the game’s best shooters is hanging up his sneakers.
Three-time champion Danny Green announced his retirement from the NBA after 15 seasons via his official Youtube channel on Thursday, October 10 (PH Time).
“I’m officially moving on from the game of basketball and the NBA,” Green said.
“It’s been a great run. I’m very proud to be able to walk away from the game. I’m at peace with it. I wasn’t at first, but I think it’s one of those things — once I turned 37, the body started reacting a little differently.”
With the 37-year-old closing the chapter on his basketball career, the basketball community took time to give Green his flowers following a great career.
His former LA Lakers teammates in LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Alex Caruso, and Jared Dudley were the first ones to extend their heartfelt messages.
“Congrats Champ!,” James commented.
“Congratulations my brother! 3X champ,” Howard posted.
“Congrats on a helluva career, champ,” Caruso wrote.
“Congrats champ! On a helluva career,” Dudley, now an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks, said.
The four players alongside Green were part of the 2020 Lakers team that won the franchise’s 17th title after beating the Miami Heat in five games.
Fred Vanvleet and Norman Powell, Green’s other pair of teammates who he shared a title with the Toronto Raptors back in 2019, also paid tribute to the veteran.
“Congrats champ,” Vanvleet, now playing for the Houston Rockets, said.
Another former teammate in Matt Bonner, who played alongside Green with the San Antonio Spurs that won the title in 2014 said: “Great career congrats! Enjoy the next chapter!”
Furthermore, some current players who faced the former University of North Carolina Tar Heel in his career also praised the sharpshooter on his latest decision.
Green was the 46th overall pick of the 2009 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and will retire with 1,577 career three pointers, the 43rd-most in NBA history.
He averaged 8.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 832 games played across six teams including stints with the Cavaliers, Spurs, Raptors, Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Green suffered an ACL and LCL injury when teammate Joel Embiid fell on him in the Sixers’ season-ending playoff loss to Miami in May 2022, marking the beginning of his downfall after appearing in only 17 in the next two seasons.
