There was no golden ticket toward stardom for former St. Mary’s of Manhasset basketball star Danny Green.
Even though he was a high school All-American in 2005, and even though he got a scholarship from the ultimate blue-blood program at the University of North Carolina, Green was far from a sure thing.
The 6-foot-6′ super-athletic kid with the silky-smooth jump shot didn’t become a starter for the Tar Heels until his senior season, when he helped lead them to the national title.
Then he was only a second-round pick in the NBA Draft in 2009, and spent a season in the G League (the NBA’s minor leagues) along with a year playing abroad before establishing himself, en route to a 12-year NBA career.
Several times along the way, Green said he felt significant doubt. Nobody saw him as a guy who’d become a key player on three NBA championship teams.
But as he explained at his alma mater in a ceremony Friday morning, it was those early failures that made him what he became.
“110 percent the failures I had shaped me,” Green said. “It built my character. And having the foundation of support I had, with my brothers and my Dad and everybody, that got me through. If I didn’t have that support, I don’t know if I would’ve made it.”
What Green became was a stalwart NBA shooter, an excellent defensive player, and one of just four players in history to have won NBA championships with three different teams; he won titles with the San Antonio Spurs (2014), the Toronto Raptors (2019) and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
He averaged 8.7 points per game in his career, and at one point held the NBA record for most 3-pointers made in one Finals series (some guy named Curry from Golden State broke that one.)
Coming back to St. Mary’s over the weekend for a celebration of the school’s 75th anniversary, Green participated in a one-hour Q&A session with 300 St. Mary’s students and faculty.
Interviewed by two of the school’s basketball players, Laila Carr and Andrew John on stage in the auditorium at Immaculata Hall, Green had some laughs in recounting how rough he had it in the “old days.”
“My pathway wasn’t the easiest but the lessons I learned here, from so many people, were hugely helpful in getting me where I wanted to go,” Green said. “Don’t take for granted this great education and the people here who care about you, because the world isn’t an easy place.”
Green, who repeatedly made the kids laugh with stories of how hard coach Tim Cluess made him practice, also drew chuckles when Carr asked him if they had tough study halls back in his time.
“Well, we had a variation of study hall; I called it detention,” he said with a big grin. “But that was real important, because that’s when I could get my work done. We had a lot of goofballs in our class.”
Green talked at length about how the lifestyle in the NBA can lead to players making poor financial decisions, and thought for a minute when a student asked if playing in the pros was more fun, or more stressful.
“Great question. It’s fun, but stressful because you know if you don’t perform, someone else will take your job,” Green said. “The game was the most fun for me when I was here at St. Mary’s.”
St. Mary’s principal Gerard Buckley introduced Green, saying, “He’s remembered as a great player, but most of the teachers here remember him as a really good kid.”
And Green, while answering predictable queries about who his favorite teammate ever was (“Tim Duncan,”) and how LeBron James stays so great (“that guy has no social life. He’s working on his body and taking care of his body every day, that’s how you play 22 years in the league) kept coming back to the St. Mary’s values he learned.
“Things like coach Cluess teaching me to become more of a leader, and be more vocal, were so huge for me,” Green said. “He helped me not be such a nice guy (on the court), to hold people accountable.
“Honestly, if I had been less of a nice guy, I would’ve learned things sooner and maybe had success quicker.”
Since retiring from the NBA in 2023, Green has become a media personality. He regularly appears on ESPN and TNT television while also doing radio work. He hosts a podcast called “Inside the Green Room” where he breaks down NBA games and tells stories about his career and hopes to hook on with a sports network talking basketball full time.
In the meantime, he’s savoring a rare trip back home, where he can visit family (they live in Dix Hills) and reconnect to St. Mary’s.
“I don’t come back here often, but I need to get back more,” Green said. “This place still looks the same, and it helped make me the man I became.”
