New beginnings are part of life. They can come your way due to a new job, a new house or even a new car. For Gerald Green, new beginnings have come quite often throughout his NBA career.

Boston, Dallas, Indiana and Phoenix just to name a few. Through it all though, Green goes with one simple phrase when asked about his unique journey.

“I’m blessed.”

You see, Green isn’t one to take things for granted. At HEAT summer camp on Thursday afternoon, the 29-year-old recounted a story from when he was a child. Green had his mom’s high school class ring on when he was playing with his little brother. They were trying to see how high they could jump by touching a door that had a nail on top of it. Green actually jumped over the nail and it caught the ring, which in turn yanked all the skin off his right ring finger. As a result, he had to have part of it amputated. Even through that unfortunate incident, Green has pushed forward to where he is today with the Miami HEAT.

In Miami, Green will team up once more with his friend Goran Dragic. In the one full season the two were together, Green posted career-highs in points per game (15.8) and three-point shooting percentage (40.0 percent).

“I kind of really fed off Goran really [well]. I never had anybody to make me better like that,” Green said in a conference call in early July. “He [Dragic] attacks the teeth of the defense, he puts pressure on the defense and he just does a great job of drawing two [or] three defenders. I mean, in transition that’s where I think he’s really good. He gets the ball coast-to-coast and he’s almost like a one-man fast break.”

It’s no secret that Miami started to get out a little more in transition when it acquired Dragic at the trade deadline last year. Now with Green and the other players the HEAT brought in, perhaps they can do it even more. When you think about the addition of Green, the other thing that probably comes to mind besides his athleticism is his ability to knock down the three (36.8 percent for his career). While that may be what he’s known for, Green wants to impact the game in more ways than one.

“I think I have the ability to be athletic on both ends of the floor so I just need to go out there and play with a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm,” Green said. “[Defense] is where I want to focus on this year. I want to be that guy who stops players.”

In early July, Green stated that Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley challenged him defensively. Since then, it seems like he’s taken that challenge to heart. To improve on that part of his game, Green said that he’s been watching film.

“I’ve been trying to figure out what mistakes I’m making defensively as far as help defensive stuff. I think my one-on-one defense is pretty good. It’s where I need to come pull over and take a charge or help the helper,” Green said. “I’m just taking that film with little things I can do to get better as far as helping my teammates get better or being in the right situation at the right time defensively.”

All signs seem to be pointed in the right direction for Green and the HEAT. The talented wing player has the right attitude and is happy to be in Miami.

“I just want to be a part of something great,” Green said. “I know the Miami HEAT fans want to be back to where [the team was] at a few years ago and I’m just glad I can be a part of that and hopefully we can take these next steps to get there.”