UNGUARDED PODCAST EP 11: Draymond Green on His "Crash Out" Moments, Legacy & Warriors Culture

Once you get going, you can't turn it off.

That's a fact.

Do you feel like that's accurate? You know, that's a fact. You there.

I've been like that my whole life. Like once I start, I'm going there. [MUSIC] VanVleet, got the wide open. Oh, VanVleet again. His third three-pointer and the game is tied. All right, man, we back.

Don't guard it. We back with another episode of Unguarded presented by FVV TV, powered by our partners over at Li Ning. I always wanna salute our folks over in Beijing. They've been incredibly supportive. It's been a great partnership for us and they, they, they did step for us behind this podcast and this media space. So salute to Li Ning for standing behind us. But we got a special episode today in a new set. One of the most hated WWE, WWF, WBC champ, my guy, somebody that I've been able to develop a hell of a relationship with and a brotherhood with. The first guy who called me after the news of my ACL went out. But before we get to all that stuff, I do wanna read these highlights 'cause you getting a little— old now. So I gotta read it. This shit started to rack up. So 4-time NBA champ, 4-time NBA All-Star, All-NBA Second Team, All-NBA Third Team, Defensive Player of the Year, 5-time All-Defensive First Team, 4-time All-Defensive Second Team, the steals leader in 2017. This must be college. NABC National Player of the Year, First Team All-American 2012, Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year. Basketball, not the football. Big Ten Player of the Year. First team All-Big Ten, two-time. Third team All-Big Ten. All-Big Ten Defensive Team. Most Outstanding Player, Big Ten Tournament. Sixth Man of the Year. And you got your jersey retired, number 23, by the Michigan State Spartans. Our guy, Mr. Draymond Green. Welcome to the show. Appreciate it, man. Pulling up to the show, man.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I see you, man.

Appreciate you pulling up, man. It's your birthday. So again, happy birthday. Yes, sir. Happy birthday. I appreciate it. You know how I rock. We ain't coming empty-handed. So we was able to get you situated, but we do got another special gift for you. I wanted to get to you on camera. And I don't know if you remember this bottle, but you actually put me on to something over the summer in New York.

Oh, man. I appreciate that.

You know what I'm saying?

I wanna make sure I know you on that wine shit. I appreciate that, bro.

Thank you, bro. You drank me under the table.

We had a great bottle.

After a long, hard fought playoff series. And we played y'all 12 fucking times last year.

That was crazy.

Which was crazy. We was able to run into each other in New York this summer, had a dope moment and sitting there drinking wine and having good convos. And I took a picture of the bottles you was showing me, put me on some shit I never drank before. So I wanted to return the favor, but welcome to the show, man.

I appreciate you having me, man. That was a fun moment. You know, after battling in the playoff series, You know, and them playoff series get heated, man.

Yeah.

And to still be able to break bread, chop it up. I told the story on my podcast, said, man, I bumped into Fred, he checked me and I appreciated it and I apologize, you know, but that was a dope moment. I love having moments like that, you know, over the course of my 14 years, you get a lot of people that get crazy sensitive and don't know how to talk off the court.

For sure.

And I think as men, that's an important thing. And I appreciate you for what you did. You know what I'm saying? Because a lot of dudes just get weird.

Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? Like, ah, like, bro, we could chop it up.

For sure. And we men first. Absolutely.

You know what I'm saying?

First and foremost. So that was dope. I appreciated the way you responded. 'Cause you didn't have to respond like that either.

You know what I'm saying? No doubt.

I wasn't checking you. I wanna make that clear. Clear. But you know, some things I wouldn't have been able to sit right with myself if I just sat there and act like, you know what I'm saying? It didn't need to be addressed.

So. Absolutely.

We had a grown man conversation. We drank all night. We had a good time, man. Here we are. So it's your birthday today. You 36.

36, man. It's crazy.

Goddamn.

It's crazy, bro. It happened fast.

How you feel?

You know, I feel great. Basketball is hard. It's hard right now.

Yeah.

But I feel great, man. I've, you know, Life's good. Family doing well. My family is growing.

Yeah. How many kids you got now?

5.

Woo!

Got 5 kids. You know, I feel like I'm on the right side of things, bro. Like life's been good to me. I got no complaints, bro.

You feel content where you at? You know, obviously you guys accomplished a lot over the course of your career and had one of the, probably the top dynasties or, you know, best runs of our generation. You know what I'm saying? In the last 10, 15 years. So to be, how does it feel now at the tail end where you done whooped everybody ass for so long and now they can't wait to kick you while you down? How did that feel?

It's tough right now, right? It's tough. You know, I always talk to our young guys and I'll be like, man, some games I'll apologize to them and I'll be like, yo, I'm sorry. Like, I know why they doing this to y'all.

For sure.

This ain't got nothing to do with y'all. But I know why they doing this. But now, you know, it's interesting because I think for myself, you see all the things that come out in the media, right? Like, oh, this thing, that thing. And you know what's— you saw what Steve said a couple months ago, a month ago or so, and everybody's like, oh man, he tripping, he gave up. It's like, nah, bro, that's the reality. Like And it happens to everyone. Thankfully you're in that spot that it can happen to you.

Right.

You know what I'm saying? Like most people don't get the opportunity for it to happen to them.

Wow.

Gratefully, we're all grateful to be in the spot where it can happen. Now we're competitors, right? Like still wanna win. You still gonna try to do everything you can to make it happen. To be on the other side of it though, because we're definitely on the other side of it. Like, you know, can we still possibly tweak it? I think we always get, you got Steph Curry.

For sure.

You got a shot. You always got a chance, right? Like, so that's gonna keep happening, but we on the other side of it. And being on the other side of it is interesting because a couple things is interesting when you watching young teams— and you can see those that can and those that won't. 'Cause you know what it looks like, right? You know what the guys, the makeup of the guys must look like. I was watching OKC earlier this year and I was sitting on the bench and I was just like, damn, I remember that.

They rolling.

I remember that.

It's a machine.

You know what I'm saying? Like, no matter who they put in the game, it's just raw. I remember that. You know what I'm saying? And it was very interesting to watch people wanting to kick you when you like, bro, every night, every night, motherfucker wanna kick you while you down. And I respect it. I respect it because we wasn't taking it easy on nobody.

No, at all.

So as I respect the competitors that's like, oh no, it's my time to get you back. Unfortunately, me being who I am and, you know, the way I go about things, the way I talk, ain't much you gonna say that you're gonna kick me while I ain't down. I'm sorry. Like, I ain't— like, this is what it is, the lifespan of these careers, and this is gonna be what it's gonna be. But at no point am I down. What do you think?

What do you think about 'Cause I know how you feel as a competitor, as a warrior in the spirit of fighting and in the moment, what do you feel like differentiate that from like the fans and the media and like people that's not, they don't share the blood, sweat, and tears that we share amongst each other. How do you view that perspective of like, because it's easy to, especially for somebody like you, who's like, get the most attention and slander and shit like that. But how do you feel about how you're perceived in the sport? Because we give our life to this shit and how the fans view it, even if we don't agree or it don't keep us up at night, I think we all have a sense of like wanting to still be appreciated for the shit that we've done. So how do you view that part of it?

We definitely all wanna be appreciated. I think that's a natural, feeling of a human being. And we're all human, right? So I think we definitely wanna be appreciated. As far as how I'm perceived from media or fans, I fuck with those that fuck with me. And if you don't, fuck you. If you don't, goddamn it, right. Like, and it's just that simple. I see fans saying different shit now. Like, you know, I'll see Warriors fans like, yo, it's time to get him outta here.

That's crazy.

And to the real Warriors fans that don't feel that way, thank you. I appreciate it. To the ones that do feel that way, like you was a loser before I got here. Like, like fucking, like stone cold forever losers.

Yeah, right.

So if you say that, it makes sense to me. You never been here.

Mm-hmm.

Right? So you don't know how to appreciate something for its entirety because you never been here. You never had the opportunity to do that. So great, I'll be the test run, right? Like this, hopefully the, I love this organization. This org, I was telling somebody the other day, I'm lucky that like Michigan State's my alma mater. The Golden State Warriors is like my alma mater. You know what I'm saying? I've been blessed in that way. And so I'll always root want this organization to do well. And I've also gone through my career with that in mind. A lot of people say, "Oh man, why is Draymond still here?" Draymond has given up a lot of money in staying here.

Yeah.

Over the course of my 14 years. Because I love this place.

Mm.

Right? So I've always done right by our organization.

For sure. Yeah, you definitely—

They've always done right by me, you know? And I know people struggle to understand that, right? Like, they're like, oh man, y'all not sick of him? No, I've always done right by them. Like, I've always given everything I have from a basketball standpoint, from— I've sat in draft meetings and free agent pitches and free agency meetings on calls at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning trying to help recruit a guy, trying to help with with strategy. I've done all of that. That's the shit that they don't see. And so they'll never understand and appreciate that. And that's okay. So then it's just basketball, right? Cool if you don't appreciate it. Except there's not much you can really say to me. And when you say, "Oh man, it's time for him to go," it's not really up to you because Unfortunately, you know, people don't like to admit it, they hate it. But unfortunately, I was a very key piece.

Man.

A very key part of building this thing to what it became. And I appreciate the organization for what they've done. I have zero entitlement when it comes to me and the Golden State Warriors. They say I was almost traded for Giannis throughout this trade deadline. I had gratitude. I don't have like, they don't owe me anything. Yeah.

And you did what you came to do.

You know what I'm saying?

Is there an analogy or an example? 'Cause when I think about you guys and the core, or you know, with you, you think about the Warriors, you think about you, Steph, Klay. The first team was Harrison and Shawn Livingston and Draymond Green. And then y'all added KD. Do you think of, what is, what do you compare your input to the team to be? Because like, as much as Steph can get, should rightfully so, get a lot of praise and credit, but it's like, it kind of go hand in hand. Like, you know what I'm saying? When you see him, you see you.

Yeah.

You see you and then you anchoring the defense. So it was like, I was trying to think about like what I would even compare that to in another team or another sport, because like, I feel like, You can't really take one or two pieces, 'cause they probably would've got rid of your crazy ass a long time ago if they felt like they could just like instantly—

Replace me.

Right.

Yeah.

Do you have something that you think about? Like, do you, what, how do you see yourself as like the makeup of what that is or what that was?

I think I'm like the Eddie Cue of Apple. Not Steve Jobs. But the appreciation that Steve Jobs had for Eddy Cue.

Right.

Still an intricate piece. You know what I'm saying? Steve Jobs know how valuable Eddy Cue is to that Apple. And we all know Steve Jobs is the man. Steph Curry is the man.

For sure.

There's not a person in this world that feels more, strongly about that than I do.

Right.

Steph Curry is the man. But Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen. Michael Jordan had Dennis Rodman. Like, you— I will never be Steve Jobs. I would never be Mark Zuckerberg. That's Steph Curry. But I don't, and I can say this with pride and not from a malicious space at all, but that thing don't get built without me. And yet I have so much appreciation for my role in it and how I've gone about it and how his skillset and Klay's skillset KD during his times, how their skill set fit with my skill set. But I've been a winner my whole life, so winning isn't new to me. Like, I've won at every level I've played at my entire life, so I expected to win, right? You know, and I did what I brought— what I brought to the table to add to the winning. I'll forever be grateful for it. I'll forever appreciate the run has been, but make no mistake about it. Like I did a lot to make it happen. Like on all sides of it, man, a lot. And I don't give a fuck what nobody say. They can talk their ass off. Listen, when you come back from, you know what I'm saying? Whether you was out, wherever the case may be, when you come back and play your ass off, them fans, like you just said, the ones that really fuck with you, They own you.

Yes, sir.

You can hear it in the crowd, whether you home or away, they fuck with you. You know what I'm saying? Like the energy that you bring to the team, bro, you're an intricate piece. So the shit that you talking about right now, everybody see it. The ones that know, know. The ones that don't, fuck 'em. I appreciate it.

I think for, I'm gonna nerd out on basketball shit real quick. I know Quez be getting mad when I do this shit, but where was the moment, because you, If you, obviously we all look different in high school and college and shit like that before we got to the NBA. But was there a moment, a person, a practice, a game where you realized like, all right, this is what I'm gonna do. Cause you probably the best example of like just mastering your role and being the most effective that you can inside of what this team is. What was the first time where you was like, all right, well, I know I gotta do this or I gotta do that because the system, As much as Steve came after Mark, Steve put his own touches on it. The system really revolved around you offensively and defensively, right? Because if you don't have the point forward and the DHO and the screen and the IQ to pass, you can't really do all that other shit. And if you don't have the defensive mind, then you can't guard, you can't play small.

Yeah.

If you can't guard a 5, y'all can't play small.

That part.

So where did that come from? Or was it always like that?

Nah, it wasn't always like that, bro. When I made first team all defense in the Big Ten my senior year and my assistant coach laughed at me like, "Yo, I shouldn't be on the all defense team. They gave you that award 'cause you're a name." And I used to be like, "Nah, D, I'm a great help side defender." Now granted, I used to overhelp so much, bro. I used to—

You still do.

That's cool though. It used to be bad.

Real ballers never leave.

Like, but— I was a great help defender. I'd be like, "D, there's no help defender better than me." And so needless to say, I got to the NBA because I could score, I could rebound, I could dribble, I could do all the shit. Once I got there, I realized quickly that I couldn't score like David Lee. He make $80 million. So that ain't the way.

Mm-hmm.

Karl-Andre's behind him. They just paid him at the time $6 million, which is mid-level at the time. That ain't the way either. How, what can I do that those two don't do? I can defend. I wasn't a great defender. I bought into defense on my own right then. Like, oh, this is my way onto the court. I'm gonna check.

What year was this? Rookie year.

Rookie year. Like, so I, like, I would get in the game for 20 seconds. To get a stop on Kobe down the stretch. Like, and that's all, you know what I'm saying? Like that, but that was my path onto the court. So I locked in on that. Like, yo, I need to defend. Then I realized I set a couple like just random drag screens for Steph and it was just like boom, boom. It was the starter. And I realized like, oh shit. Yeah, it is. I set drag screens for this dude. They don't know what to do. So bro, I was just like a fucking madman, bro. Like wherever I see him had a ball, I'm coming flying from anywhere on the court. I'm going to screen for this dude. This ain't gonna happen.

Right.

I'm going to lay somebody out. I need to get this dude open. And it was like, like if you saw it, it was egregious, bro. I'm coming from anywhere on the floor. But it was different than what David Lee would do. You know what I'm saying? Then I started to realize like, oh man, he likes playing with me. Like, and so I would build on that, right? Like find Klay, like, let me go set a screen, see if I can get him open and get him a shot. He's, and they, so they started liking to play with me.

Right.

Mm-hmm. And so I had this period of like, all right, then my second year I got more time through injuries. I played well. you know, we go to the playoffs that year. We play the Clippers in the first round. And that was— that was when the Donald Sterling stuff happened.

Mm.

David Lee got hurt. I averaged like 20 and 11 for the series. We lost in 7. And I told Adrian Stelly— you know Stells. I told Adrian Stelly right after the playoffs, we was walking out the arena, I said, Stells, "They done fucked up." He like, "What you talking about?" I said, "Stels, I can be an All-Star in this league." You get your groove. I can be an All-Star. And he was like, "Fuck it, go do it then." Mark get fired. I start back at ground zero. Steve Kerr got me slated to play 9, 11 minutes a game. That's what I'm playing in preseason. But I just averaged 20 and 11.

That's crazy.

So I had to start back at ground zero. David Lee got hurt. And then I was having the worst training camp of my life 'cause I'm trying to show him like, bro, what you tripping?

Yeah.

And I'm fucking up bad. It was disgusting, man.

Trying too hard.

Like trying crazy. I'm pulling up, motherfucker. Deep-ass threes. And he pulled me to the side and he was like, Draymond, it's fine. I get it. You're in a contract year. I understand that. You gotta calm down. D Lee got hurt. And that was like, I found my way again with Steve because he had— I had to play.

Right.

And that's when it really fucking took off. That's when it was like, all right, that was the birth of us three together where it really figured it out. Like, all right, this is my role. This is what I'm doing. At that time, a couple years, a pick and roll with me and Steph was the most dangerous action in the NBA. Right. And like, that's where it was born.

That's hard. Is there a guy or a young guy or somebody that you've seen now that you look at and like they can replicate that?

I see guys that can replicate it, but number one, it's gonna be hard to replicate that because there's only one Steph Curry. You know what I'm saying? And so like, However, I, you know, I see some young guys and I'm like, all right, I get it, you can do this. But I don't know, and I say this in the most humble way, I don't know that someone can be me.

I ain't gonna lie though, Dad, this is one of them shows you talk your shit on, so fuck all that humble shit. I'm throwing you the lob.

No, I'm saying, I don't know. See that goddamn sign?

There's not another Draymond Green.

I don't know that anybody can, I don't know, I don't know. I don't know that anybody can beat me. And here's why I say that. Sometimes parents come up to me and they be like, "Yo, my son play just like you." And I think to myself like, "Yo son is ass." Because I know what you're saying, right? Like I know what you're getting at. What you're telling me is, "Your son play defense hard." Yo, yo, some moves. "Your son is physical." Like that's what you telling me. I get it, but I'm here to tell you, your son don't stand a chance, like, of making it. The reason why I say I don't think anyone could be me is because, yes, I do that, but it's not the best thing that I do.

Mm.

I think I'm smarter than anyone in the NBA, and that's my best skill. And I think my basketball IQ is elite as they come. You can't just get that. Like, you can't just— like, that's not— that's my gift. Like, I was always a smart basketball player, but I was taught by great coaches. I'm a product of incredible coaches, a great God, like, just my God-given IQ. But like, I worked on it. But you can't just get that. Yeah. And that's the best thing that I have. And so with that and the toughness, plus like, and then people will be like, "Yo, he don't have no skill." I have very high skill. If skill is just scoring, then all right, great, go with that. But I also used to have that skill at a very high level too. I wasn't allowed to use it for so long that you kind of, you don't use it, you lose it.

For sure.

You know what I'm saying? Like, and so, I wasn't able to, but I also had that skill at a very high level. So also when they say like, my kid play like you, I'll be thinking like, your kid don't have that skill. And that was a big skill of me, a big reason why I got to where I got.

Yeah, they play like you play now.

You play like I play now, that ain't gonna be good enough. Like that was, like I morphed into that and found a way to ultimately make it great. But that ain't it, you know what I'm saying? And so, No, I don't, I don't, I don't think somebody's just going to be me. I also feel like this though, Fred, Quev, if a, if a guy is just going out there to be me though, I think you got it all wrong.

Mhm.

Like, I actually think you got it all wrong. I am so proud, like, and why I stand so proud on my career It's because I had to do something totally different than who I am as a basketball player to ultimately become who I became. And I still became this. That's why I feel so strongly about who I am and my place in this. Because I feel like if you took a lot of guys and you said, "All right, I'm taking these things away that you do great. Now go figure it out." That's, it's over.

Yeah, they ain't gonna be able to figure it out.

You know what I'm saying?

That's that IQ though. And that's the most annoying thing about playing against you is just your IQ and your preparation. What's some other guys that you respect on that level? 'Cause like, and this is something that bothers me a lot because most of the basketball conversations are had on like Twitter or sports shows is about people that don't really understand the game at a high level. So like they talk about this guy's IQ or this guy's IQ, 'cause he could pass or he can make a crazy play, but like, the little shit that the average motherfucker can't see. What's some of the highest level IQ guys that you played with or against?

Andrew Bogut.

Mm.

Andrew Bogut was so smart on both ends of the floor. Having Bogut my first few years in the league, man, was insane to my development as a basketball player. His IQ was, off the charts. Steph has a very good IQ, high IQ, but it's different because the way he play, it ain't gonna always scream to you IQ.

Right.

But man, he'll come to me like, yo, I saw this, dun dun, watch this.

Yeah.

Do this. And like the shit work like gold. Like he, but it ain't gonna be like every play I'm like, no, he ain't doing all of that. But his IQ is like the way people just think he just be running just to like, nah, that shit is like—

He chasing the nigga around the whole goddamn game.

Bro, it's a machine, bro. But it's pattern though. It's not just like running just to run. It's like he know, he see some—

He know how to read the defense.

Absolutely. Like Steph, Draymond Green has a high IQ. But when you're talking about like playing against Bron, I love playing against Bron. Like especially when we was really in that 2015 to '18. I feel like that was some of the highest level basketball I ever played.

It was the 4 in a row, right?

Yes. And— It was a chess match. Every fucking play down the floor, he's doing this, I'm plugging there. Oh man, I saw he saw this, how can I do like— all right, yo, go right here, put this guy— like, it's chess, man. And playing against him was insane. CP, the way CP could manipulate a game.

Mm-hmm.

Guys that size can't manipulate games like that. Like, it's hard to manipulate a game at an NBA level. And CP at 6 feet, 180 pounds, if he's lucky, was able to manipulate games like that and like put guys in these positions. That was just crazy.

The refs, the coaches, the players, the fans.

Everybody. You know what I'm saying? Like to play against those guys early in my career was like, oh shit. Like, ah, I gotta keep going.

You know what I'm saying?

I gotta learn more. I gotta know more. An underrated IQ guy nobody talks about, they talk about his tenacity. His IQ was off the charts, Tony Al.

Mm.

Tony Allen IQ was insane, man. Everybody talk about, you know, his— how he defend, all that shit was great. His IQ was off the charts. Like, it was crazy. So I've been fortunate to play against guys and be able to steal and pick from guys and watch and see how they brain work and just to learn and pick shit away from. Now, In newer age, Young Jah was on that path. You know what I'm saying? He was on that like chess play. He's been with the injuries and team switching. Yeah.

But— His IQ crazy.

His IQ, man. He's so athletic. Nobody talks about his IQ. 'Cause I got a crazy IQ.

You're a real point guard.

Absolutely. Yourself, and playing, like you beat us. Kawhi was great, but you were the reason we lost in the finals. We had nobody to match up with you. To then full circle come back and play you in the playoffs 6 years later, last year, And to see how, A, you manipulated me. Oh, it's pissing me off. Yeah, shaku, huh, man? Manipulated me. But also to see how you led the younger guys to get Shingun to stand up. I used to bully him.

For sure.

I remember. Just straight up. Yeah, I remember. And by the way, I told him after the series last year, bro, you earned my utmost respect. But I used to bully him. And to see how you was able to give him confidence, put him in spots that made it tough for me. That's the part of the game people don't see. I noticed how you start putting him in spots to make it tougher on me. I respect that. You know what I'm saying? I see that, I can read that. I'm like, oh man, I see. People can't see that part of the game. You know what I'm saying? And so I've been fortunate, man. There's a lot of guys with great IQs and I try to learn from everybody, bro. Including coaches. Like, bro, I'm trying to learn from coach. I try to learn from everybody.

Yeah, I watch the coaches just as much as I watch the players. And it's one of the reasons why people think I wanna coach. I don't wanna coach, but— I think it's like, you could learn probably more from watching the benches and the coaches and what they doing and what they calling to put you ahead of the game too. Your IQ is crazy. It's probably like you said, your greatest gift, which makes me laugh more when you be crashing the fuck out because like part of me, and this is before last year, by the way, because I'm a person that like, I try to stay out the way. I don't really do no back and forth shit like that. 'Cause it's like, I, I can't handle it. You know what I'm saying? That's not my game. So I be thinking to myself like, damn, is it a, it's gotta be a rhyme or reason to this shit. Right. And I started watching you closely and I feel like sometimes it is because we played where it started at with us was regular season in the Bay, right before halftime. We was beating y'all ass and I'm watching you and I'm like, oh, he about to start his shit. Just to like check the temperature.

Absolutely.

Right? And it was Senghor on the out-of-bounds, baseline out-of-bounds. That's when it really started.

Yep.

And so the whole halftime we spent talking about, all right, don't let them get y'all out the game. You know what I'm saying? 'Cause I'm already watching the standings and I'm just like, we gonna end up playing these dudes in the playoffs. Let's just go and get this out the way right now. Now, once we in the playoffs, I felt like, Once you get going, you can't turn it off.

That's a fact.

Do you feel like that's accurate? You know, that's a fact. You there?

I've been like that my whole life. Like, once I start, I'm going there. Very hard to stop. It's a freight train, it's moving.

Yeah, you might be the most certified crash out in the NBA. So we're gonna look at some of these. I want you to just give us your honest reactions This is you and I. What's going through your head right now?

I mean, it's not time for a huddle. Like, so I wanna be in the huddle. I wanna hear what y'all said because this is an illegal huddle. So I can get in the huddle. And I know it's bothering them that I'm trying to get in the huddle. No, for sure. Absolutely. So I'm gonna do all of that. Like, I need to hear y'all huddle. And by the way, if y'all start looking at me and worry about getting me out your huddle, you're not satisfying what you're trying to get done right there. You know, this one right here.

This is my favorite clip of all time.

You know what happened with this one? Look at my man Klay, man. He tried to grab Klay. Dang, I ain't know he sat on the floor that long after. He tried to grab Klay, man. And I, you know, we already had our thing, you know, our little back and forth. So he, you know, once he grabbed Klay—

Rip my man jersey up.

Everything. Once I saw him going to grab Klay, like, I, That was my chance.

Show me the chokehold, Trish. I need to see the closeup of the—

Hey, but I'm gonna tell you this though. I did not realize I was choking him that long.

Yeah, I ain't gonna hold you. He was on some WWE shit, B.

I did not realize I had him that long, man. I got back to the locker room.

This some Brazilian jiu-jitsu right here. And then you just jumped up.

You just got down. Yeah, see, when I got back to the locker room, I was watching this and I was like, damn.

What they gonna say about this shit tomorrow?

This is bad. I didn't realize I had him that long. I thought it was a quick boom, boom. You know what I'm saying? So I was like, damn. I was watching it and I was like, all right, it's about to end. And that shit just kept going and going and going and going. I was like, oh shit. So once I saw how long it was, I just went inside in the equipment room. I was talking to a couple equipment guys back there. I said, damn, man. What y'all think gonna happen? What y'all think gonna happen, man? No bullshit. And they was like, Draymond Green, oh fuck, you held him for so long. I'm like, bro, I didn't think it was that long.

How many games did you get for that?

You remember? I got, I think I got 3 games for that. Was it 3 games?

Wow.

3 or 5. 3, something, 5? Was it 5 games?

Something like that, yeah.

I don't know because the,— It was 3 or 5 games, something like that. But after the fact, like shortly thereafter was the Nurkic play. And that was—

I ain't gonna lie though. And I'll text you some funny shit this year, but some of these shits I'll be with you on. Like, I don't think it's as crazy. It's just like when you watch, do you watch this stuff?

Yeah, sometimes.

Like the 10-minute compilation. Yeah.

Bro, they have a 10-minute That's crazy.

Some people don't even have 10 minutes worth of highlights.

That's true.

You have 10 minutes worth of fucking this right here.

Like, hey bro, tell me this though, why are you holding my ankle? Then you should—

not that you got damn stepped over him, you just like, all right man, damn, like, get up off of me.

I jumped up to like act like I wasn't trying to. —But why are you grabbing my ankle?

I thought you was gonna get away with this one. I watched this game live and I said the same thing. I said he didn't really stomp him.

Right. He made it look like he was jumping at a step stool. I'm gonna tell you, I know exactly what happened on this. I got suspended for this game. I've never said this publicly. I don't even know if it's a great idea for me to say it publicly, but I know exactly why I got suspended. I love Adam Silver. Adam's great, man. Adam's incredible. I've had my conversations with Adam. I could reach out to him whenever. Like, Adam's great. I'm sure you get to deal with him a lot now with being the president. Adam was at that game.

Mm.

And after the play, there's probably not an angle of it. After the play, I'm walking to the bench and I'm like, Adam, that's some bullshit. He got my fucking ankle. I'm like talking to Adam in the stands.

You was talking to the crowd, he was in the stands?

I'm talking to Adam in the stands.

You seen him and started talking to him? Wow.

And I'm like, Adam, that's some fucking bullshit. He got my ankle. That's why I got suspended. And I knew it right away.

Yeah.

Right, so like once I got suspended for it, I wasn't about to be like, "Oh man, it's—" I knew. You should've shut your ass up.

Yeah, just go on, get on with it.

Like if I would've moved on, I don't get suspended.

Yeah.

But you should've shut up.

Yeah.

And I didn't. And I took it on the chin. You know why? Because I fucking earned it with what I did after the play. And listen, man, I think that's, you know, I'm always owning up to my shit. Like I'm not, My mama raised a man. My grandfather, my daddy, like I own up, like I'm not running from nothing. Like, and so I took that shit. You standing on it for sure. And I was like, you know what? I know exactly why this happening. And it's cool. It is what it is. I should've shut the fuck up and I didn't. So Pete, you've had 6 ejections essentially, right?

In 2023, you had 4 of those 6.

What was the cause of the spike in 2023?

2023.

This shit was like back to back to back, goddamn. You know, we had just lost, we had just won a championship. You know, when you win a championship, man, people be at your neck. I can't go for that, right? But I would have to see the objections to give you the reasons. Because I'll tell you this, one day after it's all said and done, I'm gonna go through all these motherfuckers line by line.

Nice, man.

And I'll tell you exactly what I was thinking during all— I remember all this shit. I got the mind of an elephant. Like, I'll tell you exactly what's going on every play because I, well, some of these plays I do be like, yo, I'm gonna fuck this dude up.

Yeah.

Some of 'em, I overthink a lot of shit, you know what I'm saying? So when I get to thinking about shit, some things I do and nobody would understand it, but in their mind it's like egregious, right? But like, nah, bro, I was thinking so far. I was thinking just way further ahead. And it happens. Like, for instance, watch, I get to outsmarting myself sometimes. When I got suspended in 2016, it was for accumulation of points. One of the points is me pulling Michael Beasley to the ground and them giving me a flagrant foul for that away from the play after the game. But I only pulled him to the ground so the referee could blow the whistle and call a foul because we needed the time.

Mm.

So I'm away from him, just pull him to the ground, like trying to get the referee to blow the whistle. They don't blow the whistle. They review this play after, and we're playing the Rockets, by the way. They review this play after the game and they add me a flagrant point. But I'm not trying to hurt Michael Beasley. I'm trying to get this referee to call this foul. Right, right. He don't call it. How I get a flagrant foul point after the game for this, right? But I'm just trying to get you to stop the clock.

Too damn smart for your own good.

You know what I'm saying? So sometimes I outsmart myself.

Yeah.

And people mind because they don't think like that. It's not, "Oh man, I never saw." It's, "Oh man, look at him doing this again." Right. And it's like, Yeah, my mind wasn't working like that. Like my mind. And so I'm gonna go through these plays at some point. It'll be interesting. 'Cause I would tell you, by the way, I used to do this shit with the NBA. I used to tell them every tech that I like, yep, I earned that one. This was bullshit because XYZ. I can go through all these plays with you and tell you exactly what I was thinking.

And being in the West, like I said, we played y'all 12 times. So I got to see a little bit more. This is my last thing on this. I think like a lot of times you like wait in before it's justified too. And then you just go all the way. So like, I forgot we was playing y'all one time and the referee touched you. I don't know if you remember this.

Oh yeah.

The ref, I ain't gonna say who it was. And then it didn't go on the internet and nothing. So like when you watch it from home, you just see you like, especially when you underneath on the free throw, the mic pick up everything you saying, you going crazy on the refs. Yep. And motherfuckers like, man, why he be able to get away with this shit? But I'm watching you and he touched you and oh my God, you cussed this man out so bad that I couldn't do nothing. I was just looking. I'm like, okay, now I'm starting to figure it out in real time. Like, okay, he ain't as crazy as everybody. He crazy as a motherfucker, but he ain't as crazy as everybody think he is. You got some rhyme behind the shit.

No, for sure. Like in that instant I know, oh, here's my chance. Here's my chance. Right? Like I could say whatever I wanna say to you because you're wrong. You touched me.

Yeah, you can't call it You can't touch me.

You touch me, you can't give me a tech now because if I come out and let everybody know, you're in trouble.

For sure.

So you gotta deal with me now. I had a referee before claim his hood on me. Like, I'm from da da da. I won't say his name. You know what I'm saying? I'm not about airing people out. Like, it is what it is. We have our moments. I wish they stood on business like I do.

Right.

Right? But like, And by the way, some of them do, right? But I had a referee like, "I'm from here." I said, "Oh yeah? Oh, now you gotta deal with me the rest of the game now." Because if that's what you on, it's no longer about refereeing.

Right.

You just told me where you from and what y'all on.

You just banged on me. Right?

Yeah, you just started.

Referee banged on me.

Let's do this now. Now you gotta deal with me for the rest of the night. You know what I'm saying? To your point, everybody always think like, ah man, he just get to— it's like, nah, not always.

Yeah.

But y'all didn't necessarily catch something that happened. They're like, oh no, I'm going and we cool and we gonna go there all night because you want to be from there. By the way, it's cool that you're from there. I'm not from that city, I'm not from nowhere near that state. Like, so where you from is where you from, but more importantly, what you're telling me is I'm tough. But let's talk. Cool. Let's do it. Let's have a night.

You got somebody that check you when you wrong? Like how do them conversations go? Like, all right, bro, you tripping, you doing too much. How do that go? Like after the fact? 'Cause sometimes you be wilding though.

Like, you know, I'mma tell you straight up, you be tripping sometimes. I got close friends to me that'll tell me I'm wrong. My wife will tell me I'm wrong in a heartbeat.

Yeah. For sure.

Like, da da da. She'll tell me I'm wrong in a heartbeat. Do you challenge it or do you be like, "You know what? I was tripping." Like, you know what I'm saying? Nah, sometimes I'm like, "No, you don't understand that." Right. And sometimes I'm like, "Yeah, I was tripping." Like, right? Like—

Absolutely.

One thing I don't mind, I do not admit no, like, mind admitting I'm wrong. I'll tell you in a heartbeat, "Nigga, I was wrong as fuck." It's cool. Nah, for sure. I ain't tripping.

That's real.

Right? But I got a few friends, um, that will tell me like, yo, you tripping. Uh, believe it or not, Steph— Steph is actually a very like, you know, some people have tough conversations, some people hate tough conversations. Steph love tough conversations.

Wow.

Thrives in tough conversation moments, man. That's super dope. He will tell me like, and in a Steph way, like he ain't gonna just be like, "Ah, boom." Right, right. But it remind me a lot of my grandfather. My grandfather said a million words and only said two. But you get it.

Mm-hmm.

Like, and Steph is like that, you know, which is great. Bob Myers was huge in that. That was, and believe it or not, Mike Dunleavy's like that as well. But Bob, man, Bob was like the realest. Like he'd tell me, I'm wrong in a heartbeat. One of the most important people in my life who still tell me I'm wrong all the time is Coach Izzo.

Mm-hmm.

He don't fuck around with me. He'll tell me when I'm right, he'll tell me when I'm wrong, he'll tell me when he rock with it, he'll tell me when it's bullshit. And so like, I'm fortunate to have people— Michael Levine, Michael Levine will hit me in a heartbeat like, yo, you tripping. Yo, I understand. So I'm fortunate to have great people in my life. And then also Rich. Rich right away. You know what I'm saying? And so—

That's dope. What about this clip right here? This went viral.

It's funny because you know what I was saying right here? We were being outplayed, like out-hustled and outworked by the Lakers. And I was telling our guys like, yo, they got two first ballot Hall of Famers over there. We don't have Jimmy or Steph. So everybody over here ain't got shit. Including me.

Real shit.

Just so we're clear, I'm still trying to like build my shit.

Right.

How the fuck are they playing harder than us? That don't make sense to me.

That's an effort thing.

I don't understand that.

Right.

They can't be playing harder than us. —like, it's LeBron James and Luka Dončić. I'm sorry, but they can't be playing harder than us. That don't even make sense to me. We should be, like— especially our young— like, you should be thrilled, bouncing off the wall to play against these guys.

Hell yeah.

When I was young in the league, KD and them hated me because I was bouncing off the wall to play against them. I'm at you.

For sure.

I like—

For sure.

All the time, they hated me 'cause I wanna get at you. Like, I'm so, yo man, you doing too much.

Playing too hard.

Yeah, that's what they— Draymond Green, you doing too much. Like, fuck that. That's what they should be saying to you.

Right, right.

You doing too much. You know what I'm saying? I love looking at a young nigga like, yo man, chill out.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like, but them the ones you respect. You know what I'm saying? And so I was tripping off that. And so Steph standing there, we get no action.

They said that's like looking at when your wife be tripping, you know she wrong. That's what the meme was.

It's so crazy because they'll go to you, you crashing out, tripping out, then they'll go to him and he just like. But the thing people don't realize is if I'm wrong, he'll tell me right away, yo, stop, you tripping. So he ain't gonna just sit there and look at me, I'm wrong.

Yeah, you tripping.

That ain't what he gonna do. He don't move like that.

So. Bet. I got a few more things before we get outta here. You was very vocal about the last CBA, which I was not a part of.

Yeah, raise your hand fast, brother. 'Cause man.

CJ did a great job, the best he could.

You know what I'm saying? That's the president. Mr. President himself gave that political ass answer he just gave.

Shout out to CJ, man. You can't just—

Yeah, I love CJ.

It's a lot going on, behind the scenes, man. But let's talk about some things right now going forward. I thought the All-Star Game was better this year. Better?

It was better.

Okay.

The only problem I have with it though, is it's another gimmick.

The USA World?

And when you do the gimmicks, they work for a year.

Yeah.

And then the next year, no one gives a fuck.

What do you think about doing it on Olympic years? 'Cause that was the NBC Olympic, that was the angle.

I like that. If you do that on Olympic years or leading into an Olympic year, like Four Nations last year, and then you got Olympics hockey this year, right? Like, I like that. I think that's cool. But like, honestly, Fred, I think like everybody always say you got to pay these guys more money, you got to do this, you got to do that.

I hate that shit.

That's bullshit. Yeah, I hate that shit. You ain't pay Kobe Bryant more money. You ain't pay Kevin Garnett more money. You didn't pay Michael Jordan more money. You didn't pay them more money. However, I think now the athlete today knows, knows more than those guys did.

For sure.

From a health standpoint. We got all the science, the data, all this shit that we have. And in turn with all of that, you then build out routines, right? In order for me to get ready for a game, my routine is about an hour and 15 minutes leading up to that game. But it also starts in the morning of the game. Like it's a whole thing. For sure. If you want a real game, create a real day that the players can use to get ready for this game. That's how you get a real game. It's not, yo, you gotta play Luka Dončić a million dollars for him to play hard. You gotta pay LeBron. It's not that. Yeah, no. It's that no one's in routine. You're taking pictures and stuff before the game.

Concerts.

You know, you got all of these things. It's not about the game.

Yeah.

So the problem that I have with it is, Everyone's complaining about the game. But if we just be real, All-Star Weekend ain't about the game.

At all.

If we wanna make it about the game, then do things that's gonna make the game better. It's not switching up the teams.

Yeah.

Again, that's gonna matter for a year.

Right.

But let's make this a real game. For sure. Let's have these guys' trainers in town. Let's do things, right? Trainers wanna go on All-Star break too. Let's pay another, hey, we need this trainer to be there. We need you to be— That's some money you need to pay. Like again, right? Like let's do things that's real that's gonna help the game because that's what this is about. Guys ain't in routine. So guess what? If you ain't in routine, you know what you gonna do? You gonna go out there and walk around.

For sure.

I'm not about to go out here and pull something. I know I didn't do this, I didn't do that. That's what you're gonna get. So if we want a real game, then let's make it about the game. But the reality is what nobody don't say is All-Star Weekend ain't about the All-Star Game. When you get to the All-Star Game, you at the end of the weekend, you like, huh.

Fuck.

Now we got a game? Get me out of here. I'm trying to go to Cabo. I'm trying to go here. Get me out of here now. So if we want to make it about the game, make it about the game. I also think this, Fred. I think All-Star Weekend lost some of its lust. All-Star Weekend used to be a cultural fucking phenomenon. Everybody in the world was there. And I think we got a little beside ourselves having All-Star Weekend in I love Richie P. Love my people from Cleveland. But y'all All-Star weekend in Cleveland. Draymond Green.

That's my only one. Oh man.

Indianapolis, Salt Lake City.

God bless 'em.

Charlotte. Give 'em a chance. These aren't like, now again, if you want it to be something, put it in LA, put it in Toronto, put it in New York, put it in Miami. San Francisco was good. Put it in, put it in Houston. Put it in places people want to be. That's right. Right? Because again, what a part of the lust of All-Star weekend was the draw. It ain't the draw no more.

It ain't the draw.

Right? So how do you do those things? Last year, San Francisco was good. This year, LA was pretty good.

I thought it was better.

You got it. Next year, Phoenix. Put this thing in place. Make it back what it used to be.

I was just focused on the game. Like, and I, 'cause we talked about it obviously when I took the job and what can we fix? And I'm just like, look, whatever y'all gotta do, just, make sure that players focus on the game. Make it easy for them. Cause if you real, the realest shit about us is you tell us to show up, we're gonna show up. You put us in our environment, we gonna do what we do. Absolutely. And so we gotta focus on that. A couple more things I wanna get you.

Talk about the game.

We gonna get you outta here.

Hot topic. You wanna talk about the CBA?

Yeah, go ahead.

Dog shit.

Okay, what do you, how you wanna fix it?

Well, I think the first mistake was we let a hard cap get in. And believe it or not, it's hurt everyone. It's hurt players, it's hurt agents, it's hurt coaches, it's hurt development. It's hurt so many different things. Right. Because you can't make decisions based on winning. You can't make decisions based on development. You make decisions based on money, and that affects everything. And so, yeah, I'm with you.

I think that everyone can agree that the hard cap, the second apron, has not been good for anybody. I also think that that came from the owners, by the way, that was their idea. We, the players didn't come up with that shit.

For sure.

Now we agreed to it. That's on us. The owners came up with that shit because they want the parity and everybody wants equal opportunity. So going forward, obviously we need to be negotiating from a position of strength and leverage. But I think my focus right now is like, 'cause I feel like if you look at, the breakdown of the percentage of like minimum, mid-level, max, and the in-between gaps, it's not that far off from what it usually is.

Yeah.

But there's no more free, there's no opportunity.

Nope.

You can't move, you can't keep a player. There's no free agency anymore. Free agency is a trade deadline now. You have a situation like J.K. where it's like, we don't wanna play you, we're not gonna pay you.

And we not gonna trade you.

Yep. So like, I feel like that part of the CBA is where the real harm is done at. And the second apron is the excuse for the teams to say, oh, we can't do anything because of second apron. So obviously I feel like everybody is gonna go to the table with like an idea that we need to change that somehow.

It has to be.

It has to be, it has to change. Everybody can agree that that shit hasn't been good for anybody.—

a bunch of unintended consequences on everybody. Um, but, but, you know, and I, I know it came from the owners, but the problem I have with it is, as players, you mean to tell me a business is doing the greatest it's ever done, these valuations of these teams are as high as they ever been, And what you come out with is, "All right, we're gonna agree to capping how much we can make." That to me just didn't make sense in the first place. Like that, and you know, I think, listen, the owners are some of the best businessmen in the world. The NBA has some of the best lawyers in the world.

The best.

Like, so you're up against, What you're up against is a tall task. Like, it's like you're up against some of the best of the best, right? Like, I get that. But any— in any logical business, to cap your earnings—

Yeah.

It just doesn't make sense. And that's what we did. And again, to their credit, they say, you know what? We're gonna allow players to have ownership. And in turn, they do little things like that, and then we like, all right, fuck it, we'll take a second April because they gonna have his ownership. Well, unfortunately, right now today, there's probably 3 to 5 guys who can actually afford to be owners in NBA teams. These valuations are crazy nuts.

Yeah.

Right? There's probably 3 to 5 players that can afford that, and zero of them have it.

Mm.

But we gave up a second apron because they throw out things like that. CBA before, they like, oh, we gonna raise the— we gonna raise the age to what you can sign a maximum contract. We give up something else. Right? Like, they know ultimately who's that affect. CP get a max. Bron get a max. But most 36-year-olds can't get a max contract anyway, right? So like Steph get a max, right? But like—

No, I'm with you.

I think they throw out these things and they're great businessmen. They throw out these things that they know they can get us on. We agree and we give up shit that's like a second apron, man. Look at baseball. They like, fuck that salary cap. We not having one.

Real shit. Y'all heard it here first. Draymond Green, vice president.

2027.

Talk to Kenny. You gonna goddamn, you gonna help me out, motherfucker, with all this shit. 2 more things before I let you go. 65-game rule. It's been a big deal now 'cause Joker and Shai, what do you think about that?

Another thing I think has a bunch of unintended consequences. Like what we know is Joker don't miss games. What we know is Shai don't miss games. What we also know is they were legitimately hurt. What we all agree on is they're probably the two top two in MVP voting. That didn't change with the amount of games they missed in anyone's mind.

Right.

To change, to add a rule like 65 games, it's kind of a slap in the face. And the reason it's a slap in the face, because these things ultimately alter NBA history, but guys have made history not playing 65 games. So how do you add that now? You know what I'm saying? Put these restraints on someone. But you can look in the record books and see Kawhi Leonard won Defensive Player of the Year playing 58 games. Mm-hmm.— that alters the course of history. For a rule to change one simple thing, which is load management on the road, essentially.

Right, basically.

You know what I'm saying? But it has all these unintended consequences because we got two guys who don't miss games, but they legitimately got hurt.

Yeah.

Right. And they could possibly lose the opportunity to make an MVP, to win an MVP. Based on a rule that was put in for something that has something totally different.

Totally different.

You know what I'm saying? So I think the rule is terrible. I think, listen, you know who the voters are. They make the committee. Send out something to your voters that say, hey, maybe we should take into account the amount of games someone played. Maybe you let the voters take that into account on their own. But—

That was my rebuttal was it should be a reference point, not a rule. And then two, I wanna go back and goddamn rewrite the committee in the first place.

Yes.

'Cause if you go down the list of who voting on what, it's a little crazy now.

It's bad.

It's bad. Like we need some real like basketball aficionados, people that the players respect, former greats that people respect because it's like, it's not all of them, but it's some crazy people that get to vote. Like this motherfucker could vote better than some of them.

Absolutely.

You know what I'm saying? He never played. Lick a high level basketball and neither have they.

They haven't.

You know what I mean? And that don't determine if you know the game or not, but I'm just saying like, I think that all of that shit could be revamped in a way that it would result in like a better process.

Yes. It doesn't determine whether you know the game or not. I agree. You're right. If you haven't played basketball, it does not determine if you know the game or not. The only problem I have when people make that statement is, but if I go on Wall Street and tell you that Apple stock's about to drop and Google's about to go up, you're going to look at me like I'm fucking crazy. Shit about it. And you're going to say, but you never studied this, or you never did this, right? Like you never did this at the highest level. You got the credentials. So why the fuck? But in basketball, it's always, But that don't determine—

Right.

It matters. It holds some weight. Like—

Nah, real shit.

Being that you've done this and I've done this, no disrespect to you, Quest, but we're gonna know a little more. And so to always throw that out there, like, by the way, no more passes for media.

Yeah, get on the air.

I'm done with this shit. To always throw that out there, like, Um, well, they ain't have to play the game to know the game. Cool, you studied it great, you know what you know. I think it put a cap on it, but you are capped at what you can know because you didn't fucking do this, right? So there's a— there's a cap on what you can know. You can be told some things from people, you still don't know the intricate details because you never did this, you wasn't there. So yes, you're right, you can study read this, you can learn more, you can learn this game for sure.

Say their name, Draymond Green.

Fuck them. But there's no way that a lot of these guys— you almost had me, I was about to say it— a lot of these guys, or women for that matter, right, people who are covering these sports, that you're going to tell me they know more than Jamal Crawford. I'm sorry. No, you don't.

Facts. I'm with you.

No, you don't.

1,000%.

So I just had to get that. I'm sick of these passes though. I'm done with the passes.

You leading the way. I think, I don't know if it was somebody before you that gave you the inspiration or not, but like, I feel like as far as like players having platform and like, damn, you going from goddamn to the locker room to the, you doing your own press conference.

That's most.

That was crazy. Like nobody really done that before. You know what I'm saying? But at the end of the day, you gotta respect Respect it because if we gonna let them talk about it and they ain't got no skin in the game, like why can't we have our own? I mean, you definitely inspired us. You know what I'm saying? I appreciate it, bro. I would've never thought I'd be doing this shit in a thousand years, but watching somebody like yourself do it definitely gave me and other people like the idea, like, you know what, maybe shit probably is just a little better to just speak your own piece. Absolutely. Instead of sitting there asking some dumbass questions.

You answer some question that they want to know the answer to that they don't even know the, No disrespect, there are some great media members, right? I don't hate media members, like I love most of them.

Me too.

But like they're asking the question that they want to know the answer to. Going back to my point, there's some questions that they don't even know to ask. You know what I'm saying?

Absolutely.

But I may want to talk about that, you know? And so having your own platform gives you the opportunity to talk about those things. I love the game of basketball, bro. I'm a basketball purist. I want to help this game grow. When I'm speaking on my show, I want you to listen and learn something, you know what I'm saying? I want to help this game grow. I think the, the knowledge around the game of basketball is dog shit, but everybody think they know.

Mm-hmm.

And I want to help people actually fucking know, you know what I'm saying? I think it only makes this game better. It only makes the discourse around this game better. Ultimately, it makes this whole product that we have much better for everybody. But you know, yeah. No, real shit. No more passes. We salute you and we appreciate you.

I appreciate it too. Last question. What do you want your legacy to be like? How you wanna be remembered when you, 'cause when I go to work every day, it's like, I know what I want to leave when I'm done. Like you said, you content, you feel great about, you proud about your career. You know what I'm saying? At the end of the day, when it's all said and done, you gonna get your jersey retired, you a Hall of Famer, you gonna have to do a speech and all that shit. What do you want to be remembered for? What you want your legacy to be?

I hope the people that I worked with love me. I hope I made their lives better. When you work with someone for 14 years, like a lot of people that I've worked with, have been fortunate enough, man, you see the good, the bad, the ugly, the days that I just wanna fucking put a hood over my head and not be seen. Like, you see everything. I hope the impact that I had on their lives when I walk out the door, I hope it was a great one. You know, like—

That's real.

I'm a human. You know, I've had my fair share of fuck-ups. I've made a ton of mistakes. But I in my heart believe I've done so much more good than any fuck-up I've ever had. And I just hope that when I walk out the door, that that's what it is.

Mm-hmm.

That I impacted people's lives positively. That— the good out— heavily outweighed the bad, that I left a mark that they can continue to take and move forward. Um, that's number one for me.

Mm.

Now, just the people that I've spent so much time with, that, that love and appreciation is there on both sides, and that I ultimately left a good imprint on them. I wanna be remembered as a winner. That was always my goal. That was, you know, Coach Izzo, I love that man. 'Cause my freshman year, he said, "Draymond, your best skill is to win." "Draymond Green, you're a winner. You should always wanna be remembered as a winner because that's the best thing you got going about you." He said, "You just fucking win." He said, "If we're in open gym, you win. If I come watch you in States, you win. At AAU, you just figure out a way to win." Like, you are a winner. And as my career went on at Michigan State, that's all he would preach to me. If I was falling short of being a winner, that was a problem. And that could look at— that could be in many different angles, but he— that was his vision. And as a winner himself, he taught me how to be a winner. I always won, but as you go to these levels, they get heavier and heavier and tougher and deeper, and you got to learn more and more. And he's so vital in who I became, uh, and so I want to be remembered as a winner. And everything outside of that, I really don't give a shit about. Um, you know, like, defensively, I want to be remembered for my defense, of course, but I don't give a shit, like, if you really think I'm the greatest defender or not. Like, I know my place. I know what I do. I know I know opposing players don't wanna see me in action. I know opposing players gotta think twice about doing something if I'm on the floor.

Mm-hmm.

You know, I know they gotta go to a secondary thing they wanted to do because I plugged the, the gap that they had that they was trying to exploit. Like, and so I, I have so much appreciation and knowledge and understanding that I don't need that. You know, like I don't need like these individual, like, oh man, I just want to be remembered as a winner. And as long as I'm remembered as a winner, like, that embodies everything I set out to do. Like, you know, I, I didn't, I didn't set out to become the greatest player ever. I, I didn't, I didn't really, if I'm honest, even set out to become the greatest defender ever. That was never my goal. Along the way, it's like, damn, I'm really good at this thing. How far can I take it? But I just always wanted to be remembered as a winner. And in year 14, I'm a lot closer to the end than I am the beginning. I can honestly still say that's it. And so when you see me losing my mind in the huddle where everybody like, yo, they probably don't have a chance to win, I don't give a fuck.

Mm.

Because losing just never gonna sit well with me.

Mm.

Like I will never just accept losing. That shit fucking sucks. So I'm all like, I don't give a fuck what anybody thinks. If I have to go there to that moment, I'm gonna go there to that moment because I wanna fucking win by any means necessary. By the way, any fucking means necessary.

Literally.

That's right there. Like, I tell Steve all the time, like if we got a group in, people be tripping about my minutes this year, right? Oh man, I see people talking like he benched Draymond Green. No, I told him to. Like, we are rolling. I will sit over here, Steve will come over like, hey man, you wanna go back? What you think? No, we let them go. I'm bro, I wanna win. I don't give a shit how it looks. I wanna win. When I got taken outta the game in the Boston series and benched and off, I don't give a shit, bro. You ain't get no clue. I wanna win.

Facts.

So whatever we gotta do, that's all that matters to me. So in the end, when it's all said and done, as long as I left my mark as a winner and people feel like, man, that dude just figured out a way to win, I accomplished what I set out to accomplish.

Real shit, man. Listen, we appreciate you. We gonna get you outta here. I know it's your B-day. Thank you for pulling up, blessing us with a dope interview as always. Q, you wanna close this out? Listen, man, it's all love, baby.

I appreciate you, my friend. Feel me? It's a pleasure, man. Till next time. Listen, this ain't no podcast, man. Unguarded, we out. His third 3-pointer and the game is tied.

Unguarded.

Guard, guard, guard.

Texaco.

Texaco.