It ain’t easy being Green.
Especially when you’re trying to escape the shadows of an older brother who was just one of the stars of the NBA Finals.
But that’s just what Devonte Green is trying to do. Last week, the younger brother of NBA standout Danny Green already started forging his own path, transferring from his brother’s alma mater, St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset, to Brookville’s Long Island Lutheran.
“I kind of want to create my own path. I don’t want people to see my as Danny Green’s younger brother,” he said, referring to his famous brother, a former Gaels star and current member of the San Antonio Spurs. “That’s what I am now, but I have to earn my own title as Devonte Green.”
Devonte played varsity basketball as a seventh and eighth grader at North Babylon and played as a freshman at St. Mary’s Manhasset, as was the case with Danny, who scored 1,535 career points in three seasons with the Gaels, which went 74-5 and won three league titles during that time.
“Our LuHi team should be pretty good this year,” Green said. “We should go pretty far in the States.”
More performances like the one he had at the 10th annual Metro Classic Sunday at Archbishop Molloy in Queens, Long Island Lutheran may well be returning to the championship game once more, this time led by Green. The Crusaders lost to Christ the King in last year’s New York State Federation Class ‘AA’ finals, 73-64.
At the preseason charity game that pits some of the top players from New York City against their Long Island foes this weekend, the 6-foot-2 sophomore guard scored a game-high 23 points as Long Island rallied from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat New York City, 119-118, at Jack Curran Gymnasium.
“It was fun,” Green said. “There was a lot of competition, dudes you know because we’re all from New York. You get to go up against some of the best guys in New York. It was fun competing with them, going back and forth.”
Green looked a lot like his older brother early in the game, burying three 3-pointers to have nine points at the half. But in the second half, he did what he does best – attack the basket as he helped ignite the comeback.
The only thing Green didn’t do Sunday was make free throws. Usually reliable at the foul line, Green blamed a thumb injury he suffered at an AAU tournament in Queens for his foul shooting woes.
“I came up strong and hit some shots,” Green said. “It was frustrating missing all those free throws. I felt like everything was right, but I kept missing them.”
While Devonte is trying to step out of his brother’s shadow, being Danny Green’s younger brother does have its privileges, including tickets to games 5, 6 and 7 in June’s memorable NBA Finals.
“He’s a big help,” Devonte said. “He’s always telling me how to improve my game, how to make it on the next level, a whole bunch of stuff to help me get better.”
