The former NBA star Danny Green returns to St. Mary's

2005 St. Mary's graduate Danny Green (center), a three-time NBA champion, speaks to the students Laila Carr (left) and Andrew John (right) on May 2. Photo loan: Michael J. Lewis

The former St. Mary's of Manhasset Basketball star Danny Green did not give a golden ticket for the former St. Mary's from Manhasset -Basketballstar.

Although he was an all-American High School in 2005 and although he got a scholarship of the ultimate Blue Blood program at the University of North Carolina, Green was anything but safe.

The 6-foot 6 'super athletic child with the silk-gliding jump shot was only a starter for Tar Heels in his senior season when he helped them to lead them to the national title.

Then he was only a second election in the NBA design in 2009 and spent a season in the G-Liga (the little leagues of the NBA) together with one year in which he played abroad on the way to a 12-year NBA career.

Green said several times on the way that he had felt significant doubts. Nobody saw him as a man who had become a key player in three NBA championship teams.

But as he explained his Alma Mater in a ceremony on Friday morning, it was the early failures that made him what he became.

“110 percent the failures I had shaped,” said Green. “It built my character. And the foundation of the support had with my brothers and my father and everyone who brought me through. If I didn't have this support, I don't know if I would have done it.”

What became Green was a strong NBA shooter, an excellent defensive player and one of only four players in history, who won the NBA championships with three different teams. He won title with the San Antonio Spurs (2014), Toronto Raptors (2019) and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.

In his career, he scored an average of 8.7 points per game and at some point held the NBA record for most 3-point pointers that were made in a final series (a type called Curry from Golden State.

Green returned to St. Mary over the weekend for the 75th anniversary of the school and took part in a one-hour Q&A meeting with 300 students and faculties in St. Mary.

Laila Carr and Andrew John on stage in the auditorium in the Immaculata Hall, Laila Carr and Andrew John of the school, had a certain laugh at how rough he had in the “old days”.

“My way was not the easiest, but the lessons I learned here were very helpful from so many people to get where I wanted to go,” said Green. “Take this great training and people here for granted, because the world is not an easy place.”

Green, who repeatedly made the children laugh with stories about how hard coach Tim Cluess made him practice, giggled when Carr asked him if they had hard study halls in his time.

“Well, we had a variation of the study hall; I called it in prison,” he said with a big grin. “But that was really important, because then I was able to do my work. We had a lot of idiot in our class.”

Green spoke in detail how the lifestyle in the NBA can lead to players making bad financial decisions and thought a minute when a student asked whether playing in professionals is more fun or more stressful.

“Great question. It's fun, but stressful because you know if you don't do it, someone else will take your job,” said Green. “I enjoyed the game the most when I was here at St. Mary's.”

The director of St. Mary, Gerard Buckley, introduced Green and said: “He is reminiscent of a great player, but most teachers here remember him as a really good child.”

And Green replied predictable questions about who his favorite teammate has ever been (“Tim Duncan”) and how LeBron James remains so big (“This type has no social life. He works on his body and takes care of his body every day so that they play in the league for 22 years).

“Things like coach Cluess teach me to become more leaders and to be loud, so big for me,” said Green. “He helped me not to be a nice guy (on the square) to hold people into account.

“To be honest, if I had been less a nice guy, I would have learned things in the past and might have been successful.”

Since the resignation from NBA in 2023, Green has become a media personality. It appears regularly in the ESPN and TNT television and does radio work at the same time. He organizes a podcast entitled “Inside the Green Room”, in which he sets NBA games and tells stories about his career and hopes to join a sports network that speaks full -time with basketball.

In the meantime, he enjoys a rare trip home where he can visit family (they live in Dix Hills) and combine again with St. Mary's.

“I don't come back here often, but I have to return,” said Green. “This place still looks right away and helped me make the man I have become.”