Jeff Green has been well traveled all around the NBA during a lengthy career, but prior to joining the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2017, he said he had no idea about the city at all and chose a place to live off the internet.
In a Q&A with The Athletic published Friday, Green was asked about the experience.
“My wife has been great,” Green told writer Kelly Iko about the moving process between cities. “She’s the one that makes everything smooth, I really don’t have to do much. Washington was easy cause I’m from Washington so my dad did pretty much everything with appointments. Brooklyn was probably the hardest because of the space and the congestion New York brings as far as getting appointments and moving truck in a small space to be able to unload. That was probably the hardest. Orlando was the easiest because my wife and I didn’t have kids then. Cleveland was probably the mystery one because we just picked a house randomly. Like off of a website. They sent us a list and we said ‘Just give us that one,’ not knowing where it’s at in comparison to the arena. It kind of helped because we had a hurricane in Miami where I lived and had to go up Cleveland early for about a week or so, which allowed us to move in.”
The 37-year-old has played for an incredible 11 franchises in his 15 seasons on the court (he sat out the 2011-12 campaign with a heart condition). After making his NBA debut with the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007-08 season, the team moved to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After two-plus seasons there, Green went on to play for the Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets and Denver Nuggets in addition to his one season with the Cavs.
With Cleveland in the 2017-18 season, Green played 78 regular season games and 22 playoff games in helping it reach the NBA Finals, where it was swept by the Golden State Warriors.
He finally captured an elusive first NBA championship with the Nuggets last season and happened to be teammates there with Ish Smith, who holds the league record for most teams played for at 13, two more than Green.
A Georgetown University product, Green has wound up switching teams again and is set for a second stint with the Rockets this season. The No. 5 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, he has appeared in 1,107 regular season games, which ranks in the top 10 among active players entering the 2023-24 NBA season.
The Cavaliers this offseason had several key players join them, including Max Strus, Georges Niang, Damian Jones and Ty Jerome. They are expected to be one of the up-and-coming teams in the Eastern Conference after making the playoffs last season for the first time since Green left the squad as a free agent.
With stars Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen leading the way, the Cavs open the regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at Brooklyn and are scheduled to host Green and Houston on Monday, Dec. 18.
