Los Angeles Lakers (1985–1993) The Los Angeles Lakers, fresh from winning an NBA championship, selected Green in the first round as the 23rd overall pick in the
1985 NBA draft. Green led the Lakers in rebounding for six of his eight years on the team. Led by
Magic Johnson,
James Worthy and
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles captured back-to-back titles in 1987 and 1988, Green's second and third years with the squad. In the two campaigns combined, he averaged 11.1 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting better than .500 from the field. Green also reached the NBA Finals with Los Angeles in 1989 and 1991. Green was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 1988–89, was voted a starter on the
1990 Western Conference All-Star Team and finished fourth in the league in field goal percentage in 1992–93 at .537.
Phoenix Suns (1993–1996) Green left the Lakers in 1993 to sign with the Phoenix Suns as a free agent. The Suns had just reached the NBA Finals, losing in six games to the
Chicago Bulls, and they viewed Green as the missing piece to their championship puzzle. Green posted a career-high average of 14.7 points per game in 1993–94, but the Suns were eliminated in the conference semifinals. In 1994–95 he again contributed double-figure scoring and solid rebounding for the Suns, but his playing time and contributions dipped in 1995–96; though he remained the team's second-leading rebounder. His streak of consecutive games played almost ended during a game with the New York Knicks when
J. R. Reid intentionally elbowed him in the face. Green lost two teeth and sustained a head injury but was still able to continue on with his streak by wearing a protective mask and only playing a couple of minutes a game for a few weeks.
Dallas Mavericks (1997–1999) Green,
Sam Cassell, and
Michael Finley were traded two months into the
1996–97 season to the
Dallas Mavericks in a deal that brought
Jason Kidd,
Loren Meyer and
Tony Dumas to Phoenix. In Dallas, Green brought reliable rebounding to the rebuilding Mavs. He tied
Shawn Bradley for the team lead in rebounding in 1997–98 with 8.1 rpg, but his season highlight came on November 20 against Golden State when he played in his 907th consecutive game, becoming the league's all-time iron man, surpassing
Randy Smith's mark of 906 consecutive games played. Green played in his 1,000th consecutive game on March 13, 1999, against Vancouver, and finished the 1998–99 season at 1,028 in a row and counting. After 14 seasons in the league, Green had missed only three games, all during the 1986–87 season (his second in the league).
Return to the Lakers (1999–2000) On September 1, 1999, Green was traded back to the Los Angeles Lakers for
Sean Rooks and a
2000 second-round pick. During his second stint in Los Angeles, he won his last NBA championship with the Lakers by defeating the resilient
Sacramento Kings in five games in the first round, his former team the
Phoenix Suns also in five games in the second round and finally the talented
Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals en route to defeating the
Indiana Pacers in six games to win the series and the
2000 NBA Championship, Green's third championship.
Miami Heat (2000–2001) Green played his final NBA season with the
Miami Heat where he was reunited with
Pat Riley. The Heat made the playoffs, where they were swept 3–0 by the
Charlotte Hornets.
Iron man streak Green's 1,192 consecutive games played streak began on November 19, 1986, when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the
San Antonio Spurs in
San Antonio. The streak ended with the last game of his career on April 18, 2001, when the Miami Heat defeated the
Orlando Magic in
Orlando. In addition to this streak, he also managed to miss only eight games throughout his entire playing career (all five games of the Western Conference Finals during the
1986 NBA playoffs and three games at the start of his second season). == Personal life ==