In a post‑game interview, Warriors veteran Draymond Green discusses the challenges of playing his first back‑to‑back games of the season, describing the physical pain in his back and hips and the intense treatment routine required to stay on the floor. He emphasizes Zion Williamson’s extraordinary power, calling him a “forceful” opponent who makes taking hits feel especially taxing. Green explains the mental shift needed for consecutive games, describing a survival‑mode mindset that evolves into confidence as the night progresses. The conversation turns to locker‑room culture, with Green noting how younger teammates now call him “Unc,” “Big Homie,” and “OG,” reflecting his veteran status. He shares a humorous anecdote about rookie Kaminga (JK) and how earning his respect involved navigating playful teasing. The interview also touches on the grueling length of the NBA season, an upcoming five‑game road trip, and a teammate’s Amazon gift to help with load‑management concerns. Mid‑interview, a paid political message promotes Kamala Harris’s wealth‑building policies, highlighting tax deductions for small businesses and down‑payment assistance for first‑time homebuyers. The segment blends on‑court insights, personal locker‑room stories, logistical considerations, and a brief political PSA.
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All right, so look, this your first back-to-back of the season. How are you?
Well, you've been sitting here with this dumbass hat on waiting for me to get on 'cause I'm hurting. I had to get a lot of treatment. I had to get treatment, then I had to lift, then I had to get treatment after the lift.
Damn.
Battle, hey, that's a big boy, man. He fast. He's strong. I tell people about Zion, he ain't just strong, he's powerful, man. Like, it's powerful forceful, man.
Right, right.
And so taking them bumps for 2 days in a row, man, my back hurt, my hips hurt.
Bro, trying to stay in front of a dude like that is crazy.
I'm hurting, brother. But you know what? It was good to get that first back-to-back under my belt. You know, play well in it, get both games, you know, there's a confidence that comes with that. Like you playing that first back-to-back, especially, you know, as you get older in this league and to just to remind yourself like, yo, I can still do that. You know what I'm saying? Like I can still do that at a high level. So, you know, I felt, I feel good.
Yeah.
That I was able to play as well as I did in both games. But I'm happy we got the day off tomorrow.
Hey, always. My body is hurting, bro. Day off is always great. But you know what, usually like on the second game of the back-to-back, for some strange reason, like you feel good. Like you like, man, I don't, like I feel better than I did the first game, right?
Yes.
That's crazy.
Yes, I actually did. You go out there because it's a mind thing as well. So you go out there and, it's kind of like tiptoeing around. You kind of do something, you're like, ah, all right, I can do that. I ain't tiptoe around somebody. Ah, all right, I can do that. Before you know it, I'm like, all right, I got it, man. Like, I got it tonight. I'm ready to go. It's very, it's very weird like that. 'Cause it happens that way sometimes. And then mentally, I think you just lock in differently knowing like, I can't let the back-to-back be the difference for me.
Right.
Gotta lock in.
That's what, it's more, It's mental, right? I would say it's more like the mindset, 'cause you almost like in a survival mode on the back-to-back.
1000%. Like, let me get through it, let me get through it. And then you get to a point where you like, nah, let's go. Like, I got it. Like, we good. But initially, mentally, you like, man, I just gotta get through this. Like, and you count down and you looking at the clock and you like, all right. One quarter down.
Right. Yeah, we close.
Eventually, hopefully you reach that point to where you forget about it and you just in the game. You know what I'm saying? And that happened to me tonight. First quarter, I was like, "Ah, all right, I'm feeling it out." Second quarter, I'm like, "It's go time. I feel it. I got it.
I'm all right." Yeah, you feel cool.
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Up next, you got a 5-game road trip.
Mm-hmm.
So, uh, no load management for you. And so this got me thinking about how long the season is. How long it's about to be for you, you know what I mean? You in year 13. So before you go on this long 5-game road trip, I ordered you something from Amazon yesterday, my brother.
That's this box?
For several options.
I appreciate it, brother.
But I got the right one for you.
Oh, I need this right now.
Come on.
Play my backfield.
I got you covered. You know what I mean? We ain't on the load management.
I need that right now. Oh man, I got you covered. You know what I'm saying? I appreciate that, my brother. Hey, see, there go that experience kicking in. You know, these old dudes ain't had these when they was playing.
Man.
I appreciate you, man. You just know, you know, most old dudes like you would hate and not give me this 'cause you want me to feel like y'all used to feel.
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
I appreciate you, old man.
Yeah. They gonna be calling you Unc in a minute. They gonna be calling you, they call you Big, hey, once they start calling you Big Homie, somebody gonna come in the league and be like, What's up, Unc?
Big homie. OG.
OG.
Somebody actually has called me uncle already. Bro, you got the young fellas come up to you like, "Man, I watched you growing up, bro." Hey, bro, that's sick. It's like, "Yo, what is this, man? This is crazy." I'm gonna tell you a funny story. So when JK first got here, Kaminga, and like one thing about Kaminga I learned is you have to earn like his trust, his respect. He ain't coming in like, yo, you did this. Like, you have to earn the relationship with him. And it's great. I respect it. When he first got here, his rookie year, he would just walk past me and every time he walked past me, he would laugh. He'd just start laughing. Like every time he snicker, he walk past me. Every time he look at me, walk past, JG. And Trav asked me one day, my boy Trav, Trav said, "Man, how's you and JK relationship?" And I was like, "Well, you know, every time he see me, he laugh." And he's like, "Oh, okay, that mean he like you." I'm like, I said, "Nah, Trav, the way it feels is he looking at me laughing like, 'You old motherfucker.'" I said, "Trav, because—" When he see me, the laugh, what the laugh give me is when you see an old school player walking through, first thing you do, you laugh. Yeah, he gonna laugh. All right, old school, I see you.
Like, all right, I see you old school.
I said, that's the laugh he giving me. Like, you weird, you old, you something, you ain't dressed right, you ain't doing this right, you ain't move right, you ain't dance right. I'm like, that's the laugh he giving me, bro.
That's sick.
It just happens overnight though. Like one year you the young guy on the team, then the next year somebody come in and they like, okay, OG. I'm like, what?
Dog, for real.
It happens overnight, man. It's crazy.
It's sick. It's like everything you say, everything you do is funny to them. You know what I mean? Like, why are you so serious? Like, what?
Yeah.
Oh man.
What's happening at me, bro? OG. See, man, I got a little bit I gotta look out for my OG, you feel me? Nah, for sure, bro. But I definitely appreciate this. I need it. You know what I'm saying? You get on this road, sitting on these planes, back-to-back games, traveling a lot. You know, this is good. So I appreciate it.
