Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and center Zaza Pachulia appear on a regional cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated, with magazines set to hit newsstands today.
The cover story, written by Lee Jenkins, details the Warriors’ efforts as defined by “hustle stats” and led by Green, who ranked second in the NBA this season in deflections per game (3.9) and fifth in contested shots per game (13.7). The Michigan State product is the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double without scoring in double figures, tallying 11 rebounds, 10 assists and a franchise-record 10 steals on Feb. 10, 2017 at Memphis. Green helped the Warriors advance to their third consecutive Western Conference Finals, a franchise-first, by recording his third postseason career triple-double with 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a series-clinching win in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz on Monday.
The Warriors have been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated 12 times in the last four years dating back to May 2013, including 10 times since February 2015: