Getty Draymond Green reacts to a play in a game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Draymond Green was already mad enough about two straight seasons ending short of the playoffs, and now he’s turning that anger toward anyone who doubts whether the Golden State Warriors can bounce back again this year.
The Warriors veteran shared some strong words for Golden State’s critics, saying on the first episode of his podcast “The Draymond Green Show” that anyone who wrote off the Warriors will be eating their words soon enough.
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The Dynasty Continues
In his podcast, Green admitted that he heard all of the critics over the last two seasons who said the best days were now behind the Warriors. After five straight trips to the NBA Finals and three titles, the Warriors sunk to the bottom of the NBA in the 2019-20 season and then failed to make the playoffs again last year, finishing with the No. 7 seed but failing to advance out of the four-team play-in tournament.
Green said that the criticism got so bad that even the normally reticent Klay Thompson felt compelled to speak out and defend this teammates.
“During those times, a lot of f–king people wrote us off,” an animated Green said. “The dynasty is over. Draymond’s washed, he can’t do this, he can’t do that. Steph Curry has no help. He can’t carry a team. You go down the list. You have to know the disrespect is unbelievable by the way Klay keeps speaking out on it. Klay doesn’t talk about any f–king thing. Klay doesn’t even f–king talk.”
.@Money23Green warns the haters 👀
Green went on to admit that there is a lot of basketball left to be played this year and anything can still happen, but he recognizes that this year’s Warriors team is special.
Big Praise for Green’s Game
While Curry has picked up where he left off last season, turning in MVP-caliber numbers, Green has also gotten plenty of praise for his defense. Several NBA insiders have pegged him as an early candidate for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, especially after he locked down Kevin Durant in Golden State’s 117-99 win over the Brooklyn Nets on November 16.
Kevin Durant’s third quarter
3 points
0-for-8 FGs (0-for-4 from 3)
3 turnovers
-17
Probably his worst quarter of the season and utterly surprising considering how he was playing. Indeed, a DPOY worthy performance by Draymond Green
The Warriors appear to be getting the locked-in version of Green that disappeared during the disappointing seasons.Green admitted to The Ringer’s Logan Murdock that he had trouble playing with much passion during the team’s letdown season after the run to the NBA Finals came to an end and both Curry and Thompson were lose to injuries.
“I wasn’t interested in the game,” Green said.
“It was just a totally different situation that I was dealing with for the first time in my life on top of the abruptness of it,” he added. “You couldn’t have told me three months before that I would go from the best team ever to the f–king worst team in the NBA.
“It was frustrating. And it was also a mind-f–k.”
The fortunes have changed considerably this year, with the Warriors leading the league with a 12-2 record through the first month of the season.
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