LĀ’IE, Hawaii — Draymond Green, fresh off the massage table in the gym at BYU’s campus on the North Shore, was chilling in the chair along the sidelines. He smiled as he talked about growing old, reminiscing about being a second-round pick coming up on 13 years ago. He gradually took off his socks and sweaty practice gear as he prepared to leave the Cannon Activities Center following Day 1 of Golden State Warriors training camp.
This was the calm, appreciative side of Green. Contrasting where he was and where he is brings a warmth to his eyes. A personification of the aloha spirit.
Then came the subject of championships. He leaned forward in his seat. His eyes widened for emphasis. His voice amped up a notch. He was animated enough not to recognize Stephen Curry playfully stealing the white envelope, featuring Draymond Green in black letters, stuffed with his per-diem cash.
Green was being very clear, adamant even, about the truth he was spittin’ for the record. About his mindset heading into this season.
The Warriors are playing for a title. Green is, indeed, playing for a championship.
Not a single credible prognosticator considers the Warriors a contender for an NBA crown this season. They missed the 2024 playoffs after a season loitering in the Play-In Tournament. They lost Klay Thompson to free agency. They didn’t replace him with an All-Star-caliber player. Not even Green, if he’s being honest, believes a championship is in the cards at this very moment.
But his point is this: Now begins the building blocks for the Warriors’ next ring. Whenever that is.
“Whether we win another championship or not,” said Green, bearer of four rings, “if (the Warriors) win the championship seven years from now, 10 years from now, that’s our championship. Period.”
At 34 years old, entering his 13th season, Green stands at the base of a mountain ready to climb again. The sting of his Warriors being so far from the peak is lessened by the thrill of doing it again. By the reality of the Warriors likely being a 50-win team last year if not for his suspensions. By the peace of accepting the possibility another championship may not happen.
Times are different. The league has changed. The sand in the hourglass of his career is disappearing like California beaches. Green might only hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy four times in his playing career.
The honor now is in however high he can scale before passing off the mission. How strong of a foundation can he help the Warriors build on which to place the future hopes of the franchise.
For the first time in a long time, the Warriors enter the season without their championship reputation hovering over their season. The dynasty dynamic departed when they lost to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In. They became mere mortals.
They haven’t entered a season with this paradigm since, what, 2013? Maybe 2014 at the latest, after the first-round exit to the Los Angeles Clippers and the hiring of Steve Kerr as head coach. They hadn’t accomplished but a second-round playoff exit at that point. They were hungry.
The Warriors won their first title of this era in 2015, Draymond Green’s third season, completing a turnaround from lottery team to champion. (Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE via Getty Images)
Part of Green likes being back here. It feels like the good ol’ days. This team has that kind of vibe. It’s rejuvenating.
“I see Draymond and Steph really enjoying this team,” Kerr said. “I think the hard part is, to modern sports fandom, everything is ‘win the championship or nothing else matters.’ But it’s really not true. What matters is do you have a good team? Do you have a team that your fans love what you do? Do you have a team that’s like, ‘Hey, we got a shot. Let’s be scrappy. Let’s be tough as hell. Let’s have a team that brings a lot of juice, a lot of energy, a lot of joy.’ This is not a zero-sum game.”
They’re back to the building phase. With enough novelty to feel refreshed, and enough lacking to be hungry.
Green didn’t demand to be traded to a title contender — as some have done when their original team fell out of true contention — because he’d rather his next championship experience happen at home. Whenever it comes.
“When you’ve built this s— up from the laughingstock of the NBA,” Green said, “… it feels a little different. I said to Joe Lacob two years ago, like, ‘You should understand I think about this organization like it’s mine.’ No disrespect to them that own this but, like, I take a great deal of pride in what we built here. This is home for me. This is like Michigan State for me. Most people don’t have an NBA home. I care what this organization looks like in 10 years. That’s going to matter to me.”
So these next three years, which is how long he and Curry have left on their respective contracts, will be vital to what happens over the next decade. Green’s expectation is to be one of the old legends still connected to his franchise. Still riding for Golden State. Still talking that talk.
So he’s at training camp now, scouting his new teammates. Not their talents and skills. He’s played with and against all of them. He’s seen the film. Now, he’s watching how they move. How they’re made. He’s learning the intricacies and mindsets. His version of checking out the tools in the shed with which to build.
He knows some of the new pieces well. De’Anthony Melton. Kyle Anderson. Buddy Hield. They’re part of the reason he feels good about climbing this mountain. They are evidence the Warriors’ front office and coaching staff are thinking the same way as him.
“I know I ain’t done. I know he ain’t done,” Green said, pointing to Curry, who’d returned the envelope of cash. “So it ain’t like, ‘Alright, I feel like I’m at the end. I’m cashing it in.’ Nah. We can do that s— again. I know we can do it again. I’m not a part of the consortium that don’t think we can get it done. But in doing it again, you’ve got to acknowledge that it’s not going to look like it did before. I’d struggle if we were just cashing it in. That ain’t for me. But I don’t feel like anyone around here is doing that. We’re actively trying to put the pieces together to build.”
General manager Mike Dunleavy, Kerr, Green and Curry, are on the same page about the end goal. But the path is altered.
It’s no longer about building around the Big Three, hoping their championship aura elevates the supporting cast. It’s about crafting a new identity. It’s about discovering what they actually have, getting inventory on what they need.
“When you’ve built this s— up from the laughingstock of the NBA,” Draymond Green says of his tie to the Warriors, “… it feels a little different.” (Rocky Widner / NBAE via Getty Images)
The last time, they didn’t skip any steps in building. They made themselves a viable destination with the core they had and the way they approached winning. Their potential became attractive. They were renowned for their chemistry. Over the course of three years, they graduated from competitive to impressive to dangerous to dominant — each level reached by adding new pieces along the way.
Thus begins their chance to replicate that path. Green said one thing the Warriors understand well is title teams aren’t built overnight. They know it’s a long haul.
With the defiance of Jordan Belfort, and money to rival the Wolf of Wall Street, Green decided he ain’t leaving. He’d rather build again.
“That’s kind of the tone that everybody wants to set — you don’t want a championship, you’re a failure,” Kerr said. “It’s not real life. So what’s real life for us is we have a chance to have a hell of a year and be a really scrappy, tough, defensive-minded team. We have the pieces to do that. And when you do stuff right, and you do stuff with a plan, and you do stuff with force, it sets you up to take another step.”
Eventually, that could lead to a championship. If and when it does, Green will claim at least partial ownership. And rightfully so.
GO DEEPER
Steph Curry previews the Warriors’ upcoming season: ‘We can be a relevant team’
(Top photo of Draymond Green after an April game against the Dallas Mavericks: Noah Graham / NBAE via Getty Images)
