Draymond Green Injury: MSU Star Will Play On Sunday, But Could Be Limited

Draymond Green is a pretty tough player and, arguably, the heart and soul of Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans squad. It should be no surprise then that the senior forward said the only thing that could cause him to miss this weekend's rivalry game against the Michigan Wolverines wasn't an injury, but literally not being alive to play in it.

Green practiced on Friday, which was expected, with Joe Rexrode reporting that he "looked OK." Izzo's already said Green will play "for sure" on Sunday, but the forward himself was even more blunt when asked what the chances were that he'd be taking the court.

Green on what would have kept him out of the Michigan game: "Death."

— Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) February 3, 2012

That's certainly good news for the Spartans as Green's averaging a double-double of 14.9 points and 10.3 rebounds for Michigan State through this point of the season. In the team's one point loss to Michigan last month, Green struggled with just seven points compared to five turnovers ... meaning he'll likely be looking for revenge.

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The Michigan State Spartans may have their star forward in action on Sunday against rival Michigan on Sunday. Draymond Green has been optimistic about a potential return to face the Wolverines, and we have some confirmation that he'll at least be available, thanks to Joe Rexrode of the Lansing State Journal on Twitter:

Tom Izzo: Green "will go for sure" Sunday, but Izzo isn't sure how much. Some minor swelling still. Practice today will be telling.

This is a step-up from previous statements, in which Izzo wasn't sure that Green would be available at all. Izzo had previously said that Green likely wouldn't get extended minutes, if he was able to play at all. As the Tweet says, it will all come down to how Green looks in practice. Green was having trouble putting pressure on his knee recently.

It's likely that they'll take it very easy with Green, if he does play. The last thing the Spartans want to do is aggravate a knee injury for their best player, especially given how much pain Green was in when he went down with the injury. Michigan State did not look good against Illinois once Green went down.

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Michigan State all-everything forward Draymond Green is no longer using crutches to move around, and remains optimistic that he'll be ready for his team's big showdown with rival Michigan on Sunday. Head coach Tom Izzo still isn't sure how many minutes his senior leader can play even if he's healthy enough to give it a go, but is entirely hopeful that he'll have his 6'8" big man back on the practice court in the next day or two.

Green's mother says her son has been able to put "some pressure" on his knee, but there's still quite a bit of swelling. Of course, considering this might be the final time Green ever gets to play Michigan, and seeing as how the Breslin Center would be utter pandemonium if he was out there on the court gutting through pain, it's hard to imagine any level of knee swelling will keep him from rehabbing like crazy in order to convince everyone he's healthy enough to play.

A sprained knee is still a pretty serious injury in a sport where explosiveness and athleticism are paramount, and anyone who watched Draymond go down on Tuesday saw a kid in a great deal of physical pain. As much of a shame as it would be for Green to sit out, rushing him back too early and allowing him to 'tough it out' might have serious consequences.

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The Michigan State basketball Twitter account has confirmed that Spartans star player Draymond Green had an MRI and has a sprained left knee. Green is going to be day-to-day on it after limping off the court against Illinois.

With a game against the rival Michigan Wolverines next on the docket, the Spartans are going to have to hope that Green will be ready for action and be able to play on the knee for at least a bit of the game. Without him, the Spartans were even more terrible on offense against Illinois during a miserable 42-41 loss.

The big game against the Wolverines isn't until Sunday so Green will at the very least have a decent amount of time to rest the knee before he needs it in action. The Spartans and their fans are certainly hoping he gets better sooner rather than later.

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