In a candid interview, Draymond Green discusses the ramifications of Gary Payton II’s thumb injury for the Golden State Warriors, emphasizing Payton’s unique point‑of‑attack defensive skill set and his chemistry with Stephen Curry. Green notes that while Moses Moody has been filling in, the team needs a bigger leap, and he directly challenges Jonathan Kuminga to become the Warriors’ primary point‑of‑attack defender, adopting a high‑intensity, championship‑level mindset. The conversation then shifts to the recent Miami Heat game, where Green describes an unexpectedly supportive crowd despite Jimmy Butler’s controversial free‑agency decision, highlighting the crowd’s mixed reactions and the team’s poor three‑point shooting. Finally, Green reflects on the emotional side of Andrew Wiggins’ trade, sharing personal family connections and expressing both sadness over the separation and optimism for Wiggins’ future performance, even though it contributed to a Warriors loss. Throughout, Green blends tactical analysis, motivational urging, and personal anecdotes to outline defensive priorities and team chemistry.
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We just learned that Gary Payton II, uh, be out with a thumb injury. Talk about his impact and, uh, what needs to be replaced until he gets healthy.
Well, I mean, hopefully he's not out for that long. Um, you know, hopefully he's only out for a couple weeks, uh, which will be ideal. Um, you know, if we can get him back, obviously he's our best point of attack defender. And so, you know, that's always tough to replace. Moses has been stepping up in that aspect. Being a great point of attack defender. So he'll have to step that up another level. But GP's impact on the game is not, it's not just his point of attack defense. GP knows how to find the crease in defenses. He's great at finishing around the rim. He plays the dunker spot really well. He's a live threat for us. And so he has a huge impact. He's a great screener for Steph. Him and Steph has a great chemistry, you know, and so That definitely has a big impact on our team. It has a big impact on rotations. I think there's been so much chatter about J.K. and what he need to do and how he need to find his lane and this, that, and the other. And what I would say with GP being out is if I'm Jonathan Kuminga, forget what everybody's talking about, forget what everybody's saying. If I'm Jonathan Kuminga right now, I'm saying, GP out, I wanna guard the best guard when I come in the game. I wanna be the point of attack defender. I'mma hawk this guard. I'm gonna change the momentum of the game. I'm gonna embrace, yes, I'm gonna embrace that because we know he can score, right? Like we know what he's capable of on the offensive end. Imagine him embracing that role and saying, I'm guarding the best defender. I'm picking up full. I'm gonna work myself to exhaustion because I'm gonna defend so hard. Like that's how you win championships. And so, um, if I'm Jonathan Kuminga, that's my mindset.
Mm-hmm.
And I think he's more than capable of being that and doing that. And if he does, golly, changes everything.
I've been saying that if he can take, you know, a piece of angriness, right? He needs to be angry on the defensive end, but also be able to be that bridge between you and Jimmy. And from what I'm hearing from you is really he should be the connective tissue, the starting point, right? He should be the weak side block. That guy. He should be, you know, taking the challenge. And, you know, I've been saying this all year, is Kaminga takes that next level when he decides that he wants to be Defensive Player of the Year, right? Because he has the capabilities of doing that. He also has the offense to do that, and his defense is going to be his best offense. And I think it just— it'll open up the world, the world of events for him. Jimmy's return to Miami didn't go as planned, as we saw. But it seemed like the environment in Miami wasn't— I mean, I wouldn't say it wasn't so tough, but you know, you just never know going home. What was the biggest takeaway from, uh, from that Heat game? Because I know it was a lot of pressure for him and just a lot of pressure for y'all to want to win that game. And just the way they've been playing, it, it wouldn't seem— the environment wouldn't seem tough. But I want you to describe what it was like.
The atmosphere was actually cool. It was actually one of the best atmospheres I've ever seen at a Miami game. You know, usually when you play in Miami, the start of the game, the stands are half field. Start the whole third quarter, the stands are half field. You know, people come back in the fourth quarter when the club's closing the arena. That's usually how the Miami games are. People were in their seats for this game, which I found very interesting. To me, it sounded like their crowd was a little confused. It sounded like they—
Yeah.
Felt like they were supposed to be booing Jimmy.
But he got so much love.
There's so much love there. And so it wasn't quite the amount of boos that you thought, you know, with how the whole situation played out, that there would be. But quite honestly, I don't think there should have been a million boos. Because at the end of the day, Jimmy has had an opportunity to leave in free agency or go into free agency, and he decided to sign an extension and stay with the team. Every year, people continue to ask, they gonna bring in Draymond Green, they're gonna bring in Giannis Antetokounmpo, they're gonna bring in this person, they're gonna bring in that person to double down and help Jimmy take this team to a championship. That never happened. And so at a certain point, Jimmy's in year 14, he's given them 7 years of his career. At a certain point, you just gotta appreciate what somebody's given and just like, they move on and it is what it is. Mm-hmm. In saying that, people aren't always rational and it is what it is. But I do think the environment was cool. It wasn't one of the toughest environments. But what did not help is that they were, they like, they turned into a bunch of Steph Currys out there. Like they shot 18 for 25 from 3 BD. That's unheard of.
Yeah, that's crazy. That's crazy numbers. And then, you know what I, I'm watching the game and I'm like, damn dude, you miss Wig.
Yeah.
Right? You know, talk about how weird, or just like playing against Wiggins. But you know, he played good, he made timely shots, same thing as we know him for with Dub Nation. You know, speak to that.
It was weird. You know, you've gone to war with a guy for the last, what, 5 years? And won championship, built a relationship. My kids cried when they found out Wigs, was gone because his kids and my kids have a great relationship. And they cried when they found out he was gone. I told Wiggs, I was like, "Man." So I saw him obviously right after trade deadline and All-Star break. And I was like, "Wiggs, man, my kids was crying when they found out that your girls were gone." He was like, "Brother, that's the only thing Amaya kept saying. It's like, 'Wait, so I don't get to see my friends anymore?'" And so there's just so much more than just basketball there. So to see a brother your brother on the other side, it was definitely weird. Obviously I'm pissed off we lost 'cause again, we needed to win and wanted to win. But I'm also happy to see Wiggs play well because again, that—
Yeah.
The love that's there, it's bigger than just a game. You know what I'm saying? I'm happy to see him playing well, starting to find his footing because I think he got so much of his career left ahead of him. To see him starting to find his footing, finding his rhythm, down and, you know, in that system, I think, I think it's great. So I was happy to see him play well, although it resulted in us in a loss. But I don't— I don't— you know, you'd hate to see him struggle.
Yeah, nah, it just felt weird, you know, seeing him do that for them and knowing that, you know, all them shots and all the plays he making was timely.
