Former Arizona Wildcats wing Josh Green realized a dream Wednesday when he was selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the 18th overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft.
Green met with reporters afterwards to share his reaction and discuss what lies ahead for him as he begins a new stage of his basketball career.
Here’s a roundup of his comments.
Green on being drafted in the first round: “It’s a star-struck moment. I think it’s one of those moments, you don’t know what emotion to really express. For me being with my family, it’s awesome. It’s something I dreamed of during my whole entire life. For it to really happen is amazing. Obviously, it would have been cool to be in person, but this will never happen again. So being around my family and my close ones has been amazing for me.”
On his goals as an NBA player: “Just to continue to get better every day. I think a lot of players take for granted the draft. For me, I got drafted; now I want to continue to make my legacy, continue to grow as a player, continue to develop and just learn as much as I can.”
On the Mavericks’ roster: “It’s awesome. I think being in a situation like that, it’s a lot of international players, so it’s awesome. Watching them play, super unselfish. They’ve got superstars in (Kristaps) Porzingis and Luka (Doncic). So just being in that environment and continuing to grow every day, it’s awesome.”
On his role with the Mavericks: “Yeah, I mean, I think for anybody, they’re going to have stuff they need to work on. But for me, I need to focus on the things the team needs. I feel like in my position in the role which the team will want me to play, I don’t think I need to do anything outside of that. I think if I’m able to play defense, continue to work as hard as I can, hit open shots and do what the team needs to do, I feel like that happens. And as far as the rest of my game, as far as maybe creating a shot, I feel like that comes over time with player development and also respect from your coach. So for me coming to the Mavericks, I want to make sure I’m able to do whatever the team needs to be better and to win a game.”
On the Mavericks as an organization: “I’ve always watched the Mavericks from a young age. They’ve always been dominant in the Western Conference. For me to say that I’m a part of the organization is crazy. It’s an unreal feeling. But my meeting with them, I felt like it was amazing. They’re really down-to-earth, good people. I just felt like I got along with them very well, and you could tell they take their player development very serious as well as the organization. I was all for it. I was super pumped, and I loved the Mavericks. It’s something I continued to stress to my agent — what are the Mavericks thinking, what about this. So I’m stoked right now.”
On Luka Doncic and Nico Mannion: “Luka is an amazing player. Being his age, doing what he’s doing, it’s awesome. He’s an unselfish and overall just looks like a great teammate. And Nico, I’ve been lucky enough to be around Nico for five years. He’s awesome. Nico is a great kid. Comes from a great family. Plays very well off the pick-and-roll. Overall, I wish nothing but the best for him.”
On why he chose to play basketball as an Australian: “I mean, for starters, I’m from Sydney, so I got you on that one, but I feel like I’ve always loved basketball. I had to choose between Australian football and basketball. But for me, I think a big part is just being able to represent Australia.”