Draymond Green Reacts To Warriors Game 7 vs Kings | April 30, 2023

What's up, everybody? Hey, Dream, over here. What what sort of sparked your defense in the second half? They only scored 42 points. I don't think they scored at all the first three or 4 minutes of the fourth quarter and how much of that started with Kavon? Uh everything started with Kavon. Um you know, I think all series, we've done a good job of defending in the half course. So, number one, what sparked our defense is taking care of the ball. Um not turning the ball over, allowing them to get out in transition and they had to play against our half court defense. Um for the most part of our series, our half court defense has been good. Um but we've given them transition opportunities and then also second chance points. So, where it started with Luna, it was dominating the glass. Uh once we dominated the glass, then it allowed us to show how good our defense had been and you know, once we did that, it allow us to set our offense, get good offensive possessions and we connected the game together but Kavon Looney was huge. Uh Andrew Wiggins, incredible defense. Everybody started boxing out. It was great. GP came off the bench. Um he was really into Malik Monk and uh you know, we stuck with our game plan and and it ended up working for us. Draymond, some people doubt if championship DNA is a real thing. Did we just see an example of it? It's uh I mean, I think it's a real thing. Um you know, some some people are, you just cut a little differently. You may, you made a little differently and you know, then you talk about that DNA, that experience. Um you know, we leaned into that today but you gotta give those guys a lot of credit. Um starting with the head of the snake, Mike Brown uh to come to an organization that hasn't seen the playoffs in 16 years and put the team together or bring the team together the way he did uh is absolutely incredible. So, you give Mike Brown credit. Uh De'Aaron Fox being the head of the snake from a player perspective. Um Led his guys. Uh tough, tough player. Um you know, one of the one of the futures of this league and you know, this won't be the last we see of Fox. This won't be the last we see of the Kings. Um you know, they're headed in the right direction and you gotta get them a lot of credit. So, it was uh I'm honored to have played in that series uh to play in this hostile environment. The fans were incredible. Um you know, as I continue to um progress in my career, you appreciate these moments. You know, you appreciate fan bases like this loud before the game, loud when the game start loud after the game. You have a strong appreciation for environments like this. So, I'm very thankful to have played in this series. It was uh um it was a fun one for us. Tremont Steph is the first player to ever drop fifty in a game seven. Um can you sense when he's gonna have a big game and lock in and really kind of will you guys in a way that he did tonight? Yeah, I knew um he'd be locked in. Uh you know, when you have an opportunity like tonight game seven, we had, we haven't had this opportunity many times. I think this was our fifth one. Um we played over 30 series and this is our fifth game seven. So, they're rare. Um when you have rare situations, rare players do rare things and Steph Curry was that tonight. Uh he was absolutely amazing. Uh he controlled the tempo of the game, controlled the pace. Um no turnovers. I think he had one turnover the entire game. He had the ball the whole game. Uh just his, you can tell when he's locked in and he's laser focused. Um there's not many defenses in the world that can stop him. Hey, Draymond. Uh you know, you and Darren had a nice smack talk going throughout this entire series and after the game, you guys had a nice moment together. If you don't mind sharing what you said to him in that moment. Uh just pay my respect. You know, um I've been in a lot of playoff series against a lot of different guys and if I'm honest, you leave most with less respect for a lot of guys. Um you know, whether it's, you know, how they act in the moment, how they step up to the pressure. I've lost a lot of respect for guys over the years in the playoffs and then there's some that you gain respect for. There's some that you, you know, you see and you know, they're cut from that same cloth you feel like you're cut from and Fox is one of those guys. Um and so, I just paid my respect, man. Um you know, hard fought battle. Obviously, he's on the wrong end of it. We've been there before. Like, I've been um to a game seven and lost in the first round. That was my second year in the league. We did that against the Clippers and it's a part of it. You know, you have to go through that to ultimately reach where you wanna go and so, I was really just showing my love and respect for him as a competitor. Uh I was honored to compete against him today or this series. German, you kind of alluded to my question. We were answering Maddie's. You guys have played and this is your fifth game seven. All of them are pretty famous now. The Clippers won the to Cleveland beating OKC and then against the Rockets. Where does this fall just in levels of like gratification watching what Steph did and Clay said that this is you know Steph the Steph Curry game of game seven. Yeah um I mean you know when when you're in the moment of something that's always gonna feel bigger. I think uh and so being in this moment right now like this feels like the biggest one. Quite frankly, the performance Steph put on um you look at all the things that we've gone through this year as a team um to win game five here and then go home and lay an egg to then come back here on the road and have to do it all over again and do it even better than you did it in game five which was very impressive. I think that speaks um you know that speaks volumes. Now, you you talk about the last dance, the this, the that um and that takes things up another couple notches you know. So, this one definitely feels special um you know to to watch Steph have the game that he had uh total domination. Those are the moments that you know I'm a basketball fan. You know, as a fan, you can appreciate as a teammate, that's the guy you wanna go to war with. You know, those guys, not just Steph, you know, the guys that we went, that's the guys you wanna go to war with but the way he performed man like he left no doubt and then I think that's a beautiful thing. You know, we always talk about game seven and you know how big that is in sports and to see go leave no doubt. It's absolutely incredible. Very quick turnaround um for Tuesday night. Just early thoughts on the series against the Lakers. Totally different team um you know than they've been the last couple years uh since they've made those trades at the deadline. They've been an incredible team. I think they finished uh regular season twenty and nine. Uh LeBron is playing more off the ball than he ever has in his career uh which is I applaud. Uh you know, it's it's hard for a guy like that to make that transition and he's seamlessly done it and and you know, it's helped their team. Uh not that LeBron holding the ball is a problem but it's just allowed other guys to do more. So, they're playing with confidence. Austin Reeves is playing with a ton of confidence. Uh he's playing great basketball. Rui Hachimura is playing with a ton of confidence. AD is obviously AD LeBron's LeBron. Delo uh has gotta go on those last couple games over the course of their their last series. Uh they they have a bench. Um you know, so it'll be a tough series. Uh but that's what you expect as you move forward in the playoffs but we're going up against a very good team. Um you know, looking forward to getting our game plan tomorrow, whatever that's gonna be and then, you know, starting to put it to work on Tuesday but it's a quick turnaround. So, uh maximizing your recovery is important for us. Of course, you guys, you know, you got the first two games at home though but uh we talked to uh Steve earlier about, you know, the regular season record which he said, you know, shouldn't even be talked about and you have won your last two uh road wins in the playoffs both here in this building. Just want to get your commentary on, you know, how you guys are playing and want to continue playing on the road. Yeah. Uh what was our regular season record overall? Anybody? Yeah. What about our overall record? Yeah, who cares? Uh regular season is regular season. It is what it is. Uh we had our struggles. We don't make much of it. We didn't come into this series like man, we haven't won on the road. We came into this series like we need to win one on the road. Whatever that is, if that's game one, two, five, or seven, we need to do it. We did it. Put ourselves in a position to only have to do it once and then let it slip at home and had to come do it again but at no point was our mindset like man, you think we can win on the road like we know what we're made of. We know uh what it takes to win in these type of environments in these situations and we lean on that. J Mon, we uh you know, you've mentioned the last hands without getting into any of that that stuff in terms of the future. There is a sense that you know, it seems like the rest of the league's kind of trying to turn the page on all of you guys, right? The Warriors, LeBron, like every time I'm down there, we ask him, how do you, how are you still doing this at thirty-eight like and now it's you two guys again. Yeah. Does it, how are you guys still in this position and again, especially against him? Well, I think number one, you're talking about some of the ultimate competitors. Uh LeBron is one of the ultimate competitors. Steph, Clay, myself, Loon, um ultimate competitors and so to have these opportunities we don't take for granted. I think uh you know, who you are as a professional show during these times. Here we are. Um eight years later from the first time we met in a playoff series and still playing at that level. That's special. It says a lot. It says a lot about who you are as a pro and how serious you take this. How um how you appreciate this game and I know um I speak for all the guys I just mentioned when I say the appreciation for the game and for the stage. You know, for the lights like uh I was talking on my podcast the other day uh after game five I think it was uh just like that feeling that you get playing in these type of environments like that. It can't be replicated. It's like it's goosebumps man like you you this is what you prepare for for these moments and this series against the Lakers is gonna be epic. You got Steph, you got Bron doing it all over again. We've never played against the Lakers in a playoff series. We get to experience that. Um I mean it's it's a ton of little things going on but uh what I will say is stop trying to turn the page on us so fast. Stop trying to turn the page on Bron so fast. We get so caught up in what's the next thing that we're gonna appreciate the the current and then you get to the next thing and looking back like man I wish we still had that. I wish we could still see this. So for me um and and our guys, we're gonna appreciate this every step of the way and continue to appreciate it but also put ourselves in the best position we can to be successful and you go from there and you live with those results uh knowing that the work has already been put in. Yes, you have to continue to prepare day in and day out but the work has been put in and that's why we're here. You continue to rely on that and lean on it. Traymond, what what do you make of Steph when when he starts sort of interacting with the crowd and and saying things to the crowd and motioning to the crowd and and to you mentioned the atmosphere here. Um what's it take for for a star player to have that type of performance and that type of atmosphere? Uh just laser focused. Uh he knew everything that he wanted to get to versus their defense and he got to it. Uh he actually missed a couple of shots that he that he probably would love to get back and still have the night that he had. Uh but it takes a special person to show up in an environment like that and do uh what Steph did. Um you know, that's why you get paid the big bucks. That's why you are who you are. That's why he's top seventy-five greatest players and two-time MVP. That's why because you no matter what the environment is, you show up in a major way and you carry whatever it is that you have to carry. Um we're all lucky that we're living during a time where we get to experience and and appreciate some of the greatest sports ever played. Uh some of the greatest matchups the the world has ever seen. Um I have a strong appreciation for it as a competitor. I have a strong appreciation for it as a fan. Draymond, you guys faced a lot of adversity this series. You have suspended. What did you learn about yourself and your teammates? I learned nothing about me. I'm pretty um I'm pretty in tap in tune with myself. Um and every team is different. You know, every team um yes, some of the pieces are the same but every team is different. I think in that game three, we really learn how to stick together, how to band together around something, one thing, and push forward and I thought that was huge for this group but like you said, it's a group who's faced a lot of adversity but you only face a real adversity when you are expected to do great things. Um there were a ton of teams this year were more adversity than us but no one expects them to do anything so then you just don't talk about it. Um we enjoy that pressure. We enjoy those lights. Uh you appreciate it. Uh I told the guys before the game tonight like we put ourselves in a position to play in one of the highest pressure situations that you can be in. Embrace it and that's how we try to attack every day. It's rare that you face a team that wants to play as fast if not faster than you. It looked like a couple times. We was old. Look like a couple times tonight you had the opportunity to run and you maybe slowed down a little bit. It looked like sometimes when you closed out, you took a couple take fouls, kinda slow the game down. Was that part of the game plan to slow down a little bit? Uh I didn't I don't know. I didn't necessarily take a take foul to close out and slow them down. Uh you take the the foul so they don't get in the paint and then kick out to the other side. Now, you get hurt shooting it. You get Murray shooting it. You get all of those guys shooting it and so I think, you know, being a little more strategic about how they're getting into our paint and what that causes. Um and then as far as slowing it down on offensive end, when you see something that works, you be a fool not to stick with it and you know, when when Steph gets the ball and he slow it down, he he's trying to get to something and every time we did it, we got to what we wanted to get to and so um we ran when the opportunity was there but you know, if it's not there, let's slow it down and get a great look. The looks that we know we can get to and and that was good for us.