Getty Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors draws the offensive foul on Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets during Game Five of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs.
Former fierce rivals-turned-teammates Draymond Green and Chris Paul were spotted linking up ahead of next week’s NBA training camp to build chemistry.
Dray and CP3 training together 🔥
(via travis_walton_419/IG)
It was not the first time that Green and Paul linked up since the trade, but it marked the first time they were spotted publicly together.
They had “face-to-face” and phone conversations after an initial shock to the trade, according to ESPN.
“Eleven! I hated him,” Green told ESPN. “Eleven! But I think that’s also a sign of respect.”
Both future Hall-of-Famers needed time and space to digest their impending team-up after the trade was consummated.
“I wanted to hear from both of them,” new Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. told ESPN. “Really, anytime we make a big move, whether it’s going to Steph, Klay, Draymond, you want to kind of feel it out and see what they think.
“All of them initially, including Chris, sort of had some pause. But then they thought about it and real quick became like, ‘Let’s do this. This is going to be great.'”
Paul, who is expected to join Green in the starting lineup alongside the Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, is confident chemistry will never be a problem.
“Not to sound crazy, but it’s basketball, it’s not brain surgery,” Paul told Mercury News during the NBA Summer League in July. “I’m going into a situation with a bunch of guys who have played together for a long time… I’m not as worried about it as everybody else. We’re going to figure it out.”
Damian Lillard ‘Would Rather Lose Every Year’ Than Join Warriors
Disgruntled Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard revealed his true feelings about a potential homecoming amid his offseason trade saga.
“As far as Golden State, like I respect what they’ve been doing over the last eight, nine years or whatever, and I’m from there obviously that’s home, but I can’t go be a part of that,” Lillard said on the September 19 episode of “It Is What It Is.”
“They won four championships. What [would] I look like going to try to do that and say ‘Oh, I’m joining my home team’ like no [I wouldn’t do that].”
There is no indication that the Warriors are interested in Lillard, especially after another point guard in Paul next to Curry.
“[Curry’s] somebody that played my position, that’s behind LeBron [James], the best player of this era… [I’d rather] lose every year before I go [there],” Lillard said.
Warriors Mourn Death of PR Staff
The Warriors mourned the passing of legendary PR professional Dennis D’Agostino, who worked closely with the team’s public relations staff during each of the team’s six NBA Finals appearances over the last nine years.
D’Agostino passed over the weekend.
The longtime PR staffer also worked with the New York Knicks in various capacities for 36 years before joining the Warriors. He also served as a statistician on prominent NBA and Major League Baseball broadcasts and won a championship ring in 1986 with the New York Mets as a member of their PR staff.