In a YouTube interview, Draymond Green discusses the media hype surrounding Jonathan Kuminga being benched before a game against the New Orleans Pelicans, explaining that the decision was driven by the need for additional shooting and floor spacing after Stephen Curry’s absence, not a reflection of Kuminga’s performance. Green describes how J.K. Williams (J.K.) entered the game with high energy, leading to his best two games of the season, and details a specific defensive play against Brandon Ingram (B.I.). He then reviews his own game stats (14 points, 5 blocks, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3‑of‑5 three‑pointers) and emphasizes a shift toward a more aggressive mindset when Curry is out. Green outlines his personal goals for the season: returning to the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, earning All‑Defensive First Team honors, and using positioning, brain, and tenacity to impact defense. He recounts a halftime locker‑room speech reminding teammates of a past comeback against the Pelicans, urging them to maintain defensive intensity to secure a large win. The transcript also contains a paid political advertisement for Kamala Harris, which is unrelated to the basketball discussion. Throughout, Green’s tone is conversational, confident, and motivational, with a strong focus on accountability, effort, and defensive identity.
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Before the first game against the Pelicans, it was announced by Sham that Kaminga was benched.
Which was a complete overreaction, by the way.
Yeah, I was gonna ask you that. Like, did you get a chance to talk to him and all that? But, you know, especially with like how the media positioned it, like, oh, Kaminga is benched. And, you know, it's like, This is what other dudes are getting. I feel like he, you know, I feel like Kerr like to play with lineups anyway, but I think it was blown out of proportion. Can you lend some insight on that?
It was 100% blown out of proportion, which is why you see JK enter the game the way he entered the game. He entered the game with his foot on the gas pedal. And he entered the game playing with a force that we need him to play with. A complete overreaction because the reality is the lineup change was actually because Steph wasn't out there. And so with Steph not being out there, you need to add more shooting in different spots.
Right.
And so as opposed to J.K. being in, we added Moses, we added Buddy because you need that shooting to space the floor or else they were just gonna zone us, which they tried some anyway, and they were just gonna clog the paint. It was gonna make it hard for everybody. And That is not a knock on J.K. If anything, it's probably a knock on me.
Yeah.
And Trace, you know, but he approached it with the right mindset. He came off playing hard. The media tried to blow it up as they always do. But that's what the lineup change was about. And ultimately it was a great call by Steve last two nights because not only did we find shooting, we found spacing. But it actually sparked J.K. and he had his best two games of the year so far.
Yeah, I do agree. I do agree. He had a different, he had a different kind of motivation and swag and you know, almost like I need him to have that chip on his shoulder the whole year. You feel what I'm saying? Like he, like you said, he never let off the gas.
J.K. put this move on B.I. today to have B.I. looking like me yesterday when Zion spent on me baseline and had me standing outta bounds and he was laying the ball up. Like, J.K. hit B.I.
with the, "Ah, left step." He stepped left but put the ball right.
And B.I. went way left. He was at the rim laying the ball up, man. It was beautiful.
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First off, Warriors 2-0 without Steph. And in the second game versus the Pels, you, my friend, stepped it up. You made 3 threes, 3 for 5. You ended with a game high and a season high. Well, you ended with a season high, 14 points. 5 blocks, 4 rebounds, you know what I mean? Assists, what, 5 assists? All around, you know what I mean? Vintage Draymond. What changed in your approach, uh, for the game?
Uh, I just wanted to come out more aggressive, man. I, um, you know, I felt like I started off aggressive last game, took a couple threes in the beginning of the game. And then I kind of let that aggressiveness go. And so I just wanted to make sure I come out with that mindset. Knowing that they're not necessarily daring me to shoot, but you know, it's there. And just raising up. And then also with Steph being out, the first good look you get on a possession may be the best look you get on a possession. Where as opposed to with Steph, the first good look you on a possession is usually not the best look of the possession. Right. And so just kind of changing that mindset And then Zion got at me last night, you know? So, you know, he played well last night. So I wanted to come back and bounce back, you know, and have a great game and make sure we took care of home court.
Yeah, it seemed like rhythm, rhythm, rhythm, rhythm, right? I like the volume, you know what I mean? 5 for 11, 11 shots. Like, I think in this stretch you just gotta like get shots up. You know what I mean? 'Cause you gonna make shots when you know you going in the game, okay, I'm gonna get, you know, my 11, 12 shots a game. I'm try to get to the line 3, 4, 5 times a game. You know what I mean? Like once you, like you in that mode, even when Steph come back, that's just, man, that's that other dynamic again. You feel what I'm saying? But the defense, bro, Defensive Player of the Year.
Come on, come on, come on, come on. Draymond Green.
Let's make that case.
I'm locked in on it, bro.
You gotta make that case.
That's my goal, man. You know, going into, or just living through this offseason, well, number one, to see my name not on the All-Defensive Team last year pissed me off. Now, I know I wasn't eligible because of the amount of games that I missed, but it pissed me off. And I want to continue to build on what I hope ultimately ends up being a Hall of Fame career.
Right.
And you know, the more accolades you can stack up, the better. And so for me personally, that is a goal of mine coming into this year. You know, I've heard all the talk about Chet on the defensive end and Wimby on the defensive end. And I'm not taking nothing away from those guys. Those guys are special.
Right.
But I know I can affect a defense in a different way than them. I'm not 7 feet, you know, so.
Right.
I have to use positioning and, my brain to be great on the defensive end and a tenacity that I need to bring to the game in order to be great on the defensive end. So that is one of my goals this year, man.
I love that.
To get back in that Defensive Player of the Year race, get back on that All-Defense First Team and just keep running that up. So I'm locked in, bro.
I love it, 'cause that's the piece. That's the championship piece, you know what I mean? And like putting that goal in front, like, man, that's, that's that winning piece, man. I'm telling you, that's that championship piece for you guys, especially with the talent, with the depth you got, the versatility. Like you adopting that role and going after that and still being aggressive on the offensive end, 'cause you know, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, the way you are a play— like, your playmaking ability on offense and defense, I think you got to be thinking offense too, you know what I mean? Because Defensive Player of the Year, you got to also show that, you know, I can score against these dudes, or we can make their best defender look vulnerable.
100%. And that's the goal, you know, when you're going into these games, you know, you, you, you want to make their best defensive player look vulnerable, because if you can make their best defensive player look vulnerable Everybody else is subject to whatever the hell gonna happen, you know? So that's always gotta be the goal for us. And you're right, I have to keep that same level of aggression on both sides of the floor, which is gonna be a goal of mine. And it's a mindset thing, you know? So I just gotta make sure I stay in that mindset, but I will, you know, I found a—
You better.
I found that love again this summer for, competing and goal setting and reaching these goals. You know what I'm saying? Like, you're 13. First I'm looking at it like, man, I probably got a year left or two. You know what I'm saying? And I'm out. And then I'm like, why are you looking at the game of basketball that way? Like, lock in, be as good as you can be.
Live in the moment.
That's been the goal the whole, absolutely. And so that's where I'm at with it, man. I'm locked in. I got these goals that I set. We got these team goals. And I feel like I can reach all of 'em and we can reach all of 'em. So that's the goal. That's what's pushing me every day, bro.
I like that. Stay in the moment, bro.
Absolutely.
Stay in the moment. That's it. We ain't thinking about nothing else but this moment and this Defensive Player of the Year, man. At halftime of Tuesday's game against the Pelicans, you challenged the guys. What did you say to inspire the team to perform differently in the second half?
Well, I just told them, you know, we picked up our force on the defensive end. They started to look like a completely different team. And I reminded them last year when we played this team, this team was up 20 points on us and we started to lock in. And once we locked in, once we locked in, we were down 20 points and we ended up winning the game by 15 points. I reminded them of that. I said, hey, here it is. We were down 20 points. We picked up our defensive intensity. We're up 4. If we go back outta this locker room with that same defensive intensity that we started playing with in the second quarter, we'll win this game by 20 points.
Mm-hmm.
We fell a little short of that. We won the game by 18 points. But you know, guys came out locked in accepting those challenges defensively. And although Zion had a big game, although B.I. had a big game, I think if I'm not mistaken, they were the only two guys on the first night of the back-to-back in double digits. And so shutting off everybody else water the way we did, you know, it allowed us to have a great defensive game and ultimately do what I challenged the guys to do coming out at halftime.
