Draymond Green is considered a trail blazer in the athlete podcasting space after launching his first podcast in 2017 and going full-time in 2021. The Golden State Warriors forward is known for is blunt takes on his team and the NBA on and off the court, but in a new interview, Green pushed back on younger NBA stars wanting to create a platform for themselves in the podcast space.

Discussing NBA athlete podcasts on the Club 520 podcast with Jeff Teague last week, Green described why players early in their careers should hold off on launching podcasts.

“When I see guys doing it now, I have two thoughts,” Green explained. “A, I like that you’re doing that, I think that’s super dope that you’re doing that. But B, make sure that you’re in the space to do it first. I see some guys starting now, and if you start now because you’re trying to make that your main job, great. Go for it. But you’re not in a space right now to do that and try to make it in basketball because you ain’t made it in that yet.”

Green worries that young athletes put too much on their plate early in their careers because of the temptation to chase the fun and attention that can come from a podcast.

“I be excited as hell to see everybody doing their thing. I think it’s dope,” Green said. “But at the same time, I get a little worried that people be trying to do too much too soon.”

Then, Green’s comments turned a little more negative.

“For some of these guys, they be in year three, still trying to figure it out, with a podcast,” Green said. “I love that you’re doing it, I love that you found something that you want to do, but you in year three and ain’t done s***. Nobody really want to hear from you.”

In Green’s mind, the reason fans tune into Club 520 or his Draymond Green Show is to hear from himself and Teague because of their accolades and success in the NBA.

So by comparison, young players who may still be finding their way in the league and building out a career have “nothing to say.”

“I think some guys get started too soon because they ain’t got nothing to say,” Green added. “And whatever you’re going to say, nobody kind of wants to hear because you ain’t proven.”

After Teague pointed out that there is a downside to young stars saying too much on a show before they have the stability of a lucrative, long-term contract, Green suggested young NBA players go out and enjoy life rather than make content.

“For a young guy, a $200 million contract, y’all can do a lot of other things,” Green said.

Is Green actually giving advice here, or just gatekeeping? The first portion of his comments seem like a warning, but by the end it sounds like hating. Maybe Green learned from his first try at podcasting as a younger player in 2017 or personally doesn’t think the likes of Trae Young or Michael Porter Jr., young NBA stars with their own shows, are interesting. But plenty of fans in Atlanta or Denver where they play likely tune in.

There is something to be said for experience leading to more perspective on sports and life. If that were the only rule, though, then your average online content creator or streamer in their teens or early 20s would not have an audience.

Green doesn’t sound much like an athlete-first media disruptor when he tells entire swaths of his league to not use their voice. The whole point of the internet and social media breaking down the barriers of who is allowed to have a voice is that the smartest or most entertaining people will rise to the top. By nature, whoever develops an audience is basically deserving of it.

For a guy who invented the phrase New Media built around the idea of athletes taking the microphone away from old media, Green’s comments here set a strange boundary on who qualifies to do so.

[Club 520 on YouTube]