In a candid interview, Warriors forward Draymond Green confidently guarantees that the Golden State Warriors will win an NBA championship with the newly formed core of Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. He draws on his multiple past championship experiences, emphasizing that he knows what winning feels like and stands 100% behind his statement. Green explains his habit of speaking up when the team is down, positioning himself as a vocal underdog leader. He praises Jimmy Butler’s over‑communication, describing Butler as a meticulous teacher who constantly draws up plays and educates teammates, even if some players may find his intensity exhausting. Green highlights the evolving team chemistry, noting how players like Pod, Moses, and Buddy are becoming comfortable in their roles. He stresses the urgency of the season’s second half—26 games left, currently ninth in the West—advocating a playoff‑mode mindset, winning every game, and building momentum early in the road trip. Throughout, Green mixes confidence, enthusiasm, and a pragmatic focus on execution, while also acknowledging the challenges of the schedule and the need for each player to love winning.
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How you feel about that guarantee?
You on that? I believe that we got the pieces to do it. And like I said, I know what that look and feel like. You know what I'm saying? So it's a lot of people like, oh man, how he gonna say that? They ain't done it. What Jay say? How you gonna talk about how to do it? They never did it. Like, you got all these people out here talking about what I said and how I'm gonna do it.
But you did it before.
I've done it.
And over and over.
Over and over and over and over. I know what it look and feel like. I 1,000% wholeheartedly stand all 10 toes down on everything I said. We winning that. And I look forward to all the people that running, ducking, hiding, and then not even acknowledge that, yo, this man said this when they were—
Yeah.
The thing about me, BD, is I talk shit when we down 20. I don't really necessarily talk when we up 20. I talk when we down 20. Now, unless you've been like, Barking. Of course I'm gonna talk when we up 20, but I talk when we down 20.
Right.
That's when I like to talk. You know what I'm saying?
And so— When you're the underdog.
When we 28 and 27, I said what I said. I ain't say it, you know, when everybody else get the clear picture. I said that when we was 28 and 27.
Yeah.
And I meant it. And I stand on it. And so I'm looking forward to letting that play out how it may. But I'm excited as hell about this team, man.
Yeah, man, I'm excited too. 'Cause you know, in our little group chats with the homies, I keep telling them, y'all got a different identity. And you know, even in the Kings game, you can see just the way Steph, the way Steph playing is different. The way Jimmy playing is, everybody is taking their game to another level. And you look at Pod, you look at Moses, You look at Buddy, you look at all these dudes now, now they can be comfortable in their skin.
Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah.
And they don't have to do more than what they have been asked all year. Now they can get back to being, you know, super dynamic. I even saw a video where Jimmy is drawing up a play and he's describing something to you and Pop, you know, like what was y'all cooking up? But just to see that chemistry, Like walk me through that moment.
Man, you know, those moments are great. Like I told y'all, Jimmy is an over-communicator. You know what I'm saying? Like he, Jimmy gonna come to you before something ever happened. Like if this happened, we gonna do this. And I'll be honest with you, I see how people can get tired of Jimmy because if you're not a basketball head, like if you don't love this shit and you over-communicate like Jimmy and dot every T, I mean dot every I and cross every T, losers will get frustrated with that. You know what I'm saying? Like, if you don't love, eat, breathe this shit, and more importantly, winning, you can get frustrated with that. So I can see in 2 weeks or 3 weeks, whatever it's been, how someone can get frustrated with Jimmy.
Yep.
Because most people aren't winners. And so the things that he's doing, like, when I tell you, to me, It's music to my ears to talk basketball with somebody that know the basketball game like Jimmy and listen and learn, you know, from somebody who know the game like Jimmy. It's music to my ears, him overcommunicating the way he does.
Right.
But like I said, for somebody who got one foot in, one foot out, that don't really love it, because let's face it, that's 70% of the league, like, that don't really love it, don't really care whether they win or they lose. I can see how you would get shell-shocked and be afraid of that.
Right.
In that moment, Jimmy was drawing up, showing us this play. Like, because obviously with our team, there's a lot of denials, you know what I'm saying? There's a lot of traps, trying to take Steph out the game and all these things. He was showing us a different way to run a set to open up some, like, to get him in a certain position that's gonna open it up. He like, so if they take it away this way, If you just come out this side and do that, that's gonna put this guy here and I got him sealed. You know what I'm saying? It's just different stuff like that. That Jimmy, man, he dialed in on it. And like I said, he's such a crazy target. I threw a terrible pass high as hell yesterday. Goes back like this to get it, body going opposite way. He go body going this way. He go back, arm go back this way, get the ball, come down with a full stride, turnaround J over DeMarreco. Mm-hmm. Like he's just such an incredible target, man. But you know, Jimmy is a, he a leader and he knows his stuff, man. And so he teaching and everybody know he know his stuff, you know what I'm saying? So like I said, this isn't a situation to where he gotta come somewhere, earn respect, earn a voice. Like, no, no, no, we all know who Jimmy Butler is.
We know.
And so you walk through that door, that respect is given. And he coaching guys up and he teaching and I'm enjoying learning from him. You know what I'm saying? Just different things, how he see the game. And 'cause it can only help me be better. You know what I'm saying? Obviously it's helping our team be better.
Talk about the importance of starting the second half of the season. Well, you know, the Warriors, 26 games left, currently in 9th in the West. The next 4 games you have the Mavericks at home, Hornets at home, Magic away, Sixers away. Talk to the fans about how important it is to get off to a good second, back end of an All-Star game.
I think it's very important, especially in the place that we're in. You know, we let some games get away early that we talked about that we shouldn't have, but we are where we are. And so for us, it's important to get off to a good start because Should every game count? We in playoff mode, you know what I'm saying? We gotta, we gotta approach these next 26 like the playoffs. We want to give ourselves the best position as possible when it comes from seeding. And to my knowledge, from what I've heard, I think we're only maybe 3 games out of 6 or something like that. I don't know that to be certain, but, 'cause I don't, I don't follow the standings. I just, the way I approached it, win every game you can and check at the end.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Like, I think, you know, if we win every game that we can and check at the end, I think that'll leave us in a pretty good position. And so that's kind of how I approach it. But it's important to get off to a good start because you gotta build on that. And you know, you're establishing now, you know, the season going waves, as you know, and now you're establishing like, and this is the team we need to be in order to reach our goals. Ultimate goal.
Right.
And you feel more of a, you know, you feel more of a sense of urgency those last 26 games.
Yeah.
Because you can see that light at the end of the tunnel, man. I don't think people understand, BD, how I feel. You look up and they say game 11 of 82. Like you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. You can't even see the All-Star break at the end of the tunnel. And so, you know, 26 games, you pass the All-Star break, you rejuvenated, Now you come back and you like, all right, we can see that light at the end of the tunnel. We know what we playing and working for. And I think, you know, that's why it's important for us, you know, to get off to a great start these next 4.
Yeah.
You know, it's gonna, we going on a road trip. I think it's also a good road trip for us. Like it'll be a tough road trip for sure. But I think it's some winnable games that we can go take and we need to make sure we taking care of our business and going to do that.
I like that.
Taking one game at a time.
Absolutely.
Right?
Absolutely.
You can't look past nobody in the NBA, especially these days where everybody's scoring. I told you, Utah gave us 20 points, put up 20 points in 3 minutes.
Yeah, you gotta grab a couple makeup games too that got away from you. So you gotta make sure you win the ones you supposed to win. And then you gotta grab the one, you gotta grab the games that you not supposed to win.
