College Basketball

Draymond Green opens up on 'brutal' feeling following Michigan State shooting

Updated Feb. 15, 2023 8:44 p.m. ET

Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green said that Monday's mass shooting at his alma mater Michigan State, a tragedy that killed three people and wounded five more, hit close to home and awakened him from a numbness he had developed toward such incidents.

"We've been having a ton of these mass shootings in America and quite frankly, you're becoming quite numb to it," Green said on his podcast, "The Draymond Green Show." "You see them, and it’s like, there goes another one. There goes another. It’s sad to know as a people that’s where we are. But that's the reality. That we just keep having these things over and over again.

"And you're numb to it until you're not. You're numb to it until it hits close to home, like me [Monday night]."

Green said he had always viewed East Lansing as a safe town and had never imagined something like that could happen on Michigan State's campus.

"Quite honestly, and not to make the moment about myself, but growing up in Saginaw, Michigan, when I went to Michigan State, I thought I made it out," Green said. "Like, for the first time in my life, I didn't feel like I had to look over my shoulder when I was walking around — that leaving the house and making it back home wasn't a threat."

Green said that there might be other kids attending Michigan State now that came from similar situations to him, thinking that they also "made it out." Now, that feeling has been taken from them, he said.

"That feeling has been rocked a bit," Green said. "Knowing that that kid from Saginaw, or Detroit, or Pontiac, or Flint, or you name it — that feeling is compromised from that. That hurts me. That hurts because as kids, you grow up in those environments and your main goal is to get out of there, so you don't have to deal with that. So you don't have to have those same worries. So you don't have to face those same dangers on the daily.

"To know that you go to a place like Michigan State and to have that worry again, that's brutal. That's scary."

Green said that feeling isn't exclusive to students who attend Michigan State, either. He said he feels for all students and parents who came from similar areas as he did, who feel unsafe now because of what happened Monday.

Green isn't the only Michigan State alum to speak out on Monday's tragedy in recent days.

"Cookie & I are devastated to hear about the news of a shooting on Michigan State’s campus," Magic Johnson wrote on Twitter late Monday. "We are praying for the victims, their families, students, faculty, employees & administration.

"This is such a tragic situation & our hearts go out to the MSU community, all of Lansing and East Lansing!"

Lakers guard Max Christie, who played at Michigan State last season, sent his thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families while adding he was happy to hear his closest friends there were OK.

"It definitely hits home," Christie told reporters following the Lakers game on Monday. "Even though it was at Michigan State, anywhere else it would still hit home. The fact that it happened at Michigan State, a place I called home for over a year and was there less than a year ago, it definitely hurts a lot."

Former Michigan State basketball player and now Phoenix Suns owner Matt Ishbia offered his thoughts and prayers on Twitter. So did Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who played football at Michigan State.

"Deeply saddened by the horrific tragedy that took place at Michigan State University last night," Ishbia wrote. "Sending my love, thoughts, and prayers to all MSU students, the university, and the entire Spartan family."

"My heart breaks for the entire Michigan State community … grieving alongside all my fellow Spartans. #SpartanStrong," Cousins wrote.

Arielle Diamond Anderson, Brian Fraser and Alex Verner were the three Michigan State students who were killed in Monday's shooting.

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