In this post‑game locker‑room interview, Draymond Green reflects on Game 4 of the 2022 NBA Finals. He opens by praising Stephen Curry’s 43‑point, 4‑assist, 10‑rebound performance, noting how Curry answered critics and stayed locked in despite a late‑game push from Boston. Green then discusses his own temporary benching from the 7:30‑minute mark to the 3:30‑minute mark, emphasizing that coaching rotations are about winning, not ego, and that he was not upset with Coach Kerr. He credits teammates Juan Toscano‑Anderson, Chris Chiozza, and Gary Payton for keeping his focus while he sat. Green highlights Andrew Wiggins’ career‑high 16 rebounds and +20 on‑court impact, and Klay Thompson’s “Klay ball” clutch three that gave the Warriors the lead. He recounts a locker‑room joke about Wiggins’ rebound record. The conversation shifts to the hostile Boston chants (“Fuck you, Draymond!”), where Green downplays the personal impact, framing it as a teaching moment for his young sons about resilience and the realities of being a Black man in America. He concludes with a forward‑looking mindset, stating he will keep taking his shots, help the team win, and stay focused on the championship goal.
Chapters
Our goal, you come on the road, you need to win one, take back home court advantage. We did that. Obviously behind the chef, Steph Curry, 43 points, 4 assists, 10 rebounds. Absolutely incredible performance. I'll tell you what, to see the way Steph has played this Finals is absolutely amazing. You know, we all have heard the slander. And you know, the whole, he doesn't have a Finals MVP and blah, blah, blah. That whole conversation. And he's responded exactly how I expect him to respond. Not sure if everyone else expects him to respond like that, but if you have any type of basketball mind and you're unbiased, you would expect him to respond like that because that's always what he's done. And it's been absolutely amazing to see. I mean, he put us on his back tonight. And he carried us across the finish line. And it was great. I thought, you know, he got to a lot of what he wanted to get to. Also was, you know, a couple of those threes probably should have been the— For those of you that's just listening to the audio, I did the Steph Curry four finger display when he knocks it down, you know, and— How often do you see Steph Curry get upset like he did after that second 3 where JT kind of pushed him from behind a little? How often do you see that? I mean, he was locked in from the very beginning. He hit the 3 in the first quarter and started talking to the fans. And when Steph starts talking to the fans, it's never a good sign. That, well, it's a good sign for us. But that's never a good sign for anyone else. I mean, he was locked from the very beginning. And quite frankly, I wasn't surprised one bit. I could see in his demeanor the last couple days, right? Immediately after game 3, he's like, okay. So it was absolutely incredible. He did exactly what we expected him to do and helped carry us to the win. We were, able to outscore Boston 58 to 43 in the second half, which was absolutely huge. I think we went into the half down 5, if I'm not mistaken. And you know, we came out, tied the game up right away. And then they went on a little run. And then the, you know, that third quarter was kind of back and forth. We took the lead, they took the lead. And then the fourth quarter, Very close fourth quarter start. They get out, they go up 4, Steph comes back in the game. And then from that point on, it was just kind of a slugfest. They hit, we hit. And then at some, you know, later on in the quarter, maybe 3 minutes to go, we were then able to create some separation. But I mean, it was right there. Obviously everyone wants to talk about me sitting from the 7-minute, 7.5-minute mark to the 3.5-minute mark. I know one question someone asked was like, did Coach Kerr talk to me about that? Absolutely not. Nor did he need to. I be shocked when teams, you know, I've been struggling. As we all can see. No, played a better game tonight, overall game, but definitely was struggling from the field, struggling on the offensive end. And I'd be shocked when teams feel like, oh man, something is working for us, but we have to go back to this guy because of a resume, because of a contract, because of whatever reason people feel that they need to go back. This is the playoffs, man. I don't get caught up in, As long as we win the game, whether I'm playing or Wiggs is playing or Blount is playing or whoever else is playing, you could throw Q-Dawg out there. If Q's playing, for those of you that don't know who Q-Dawg is, that's our assistant coach Bruce Frazier, most interesting man in sports. You could throw whoever out there as long as we win, I really don't care. And so the whole notion of like, oh man, you have to check in. With certain guys if you're gonna take them out the game, or if, you know, if you think it's better for the team. I think that's ridiculous. I watch teams every year in the playoffs not sub guys that they know they should sub, and they lose. And so the fact that, you know, Steve went away from me for a little while, was I pissed off and frustrated? Absolutely. Like 7 minutes to go in a— 7 minutes to go. Extremely important game. You know, we can't go down 3-1. You don't wanna go down 3-1. And I'm coming outta the game, I was livid. But I credit my teammates, Juan Toscano Anderson. And see, this is where, you know, when you're trying to win a championship, this is where everything matters and everyone matters. I credit Juan Toscano Anderson. He was in my ear. Not only was he in my ear the whole night, But when I was frustrated, when I came out the game at the 7 and a half minute mark, he was in my ear. Chris Chiozza was in my ear. Gary Payton was in my ear. And it was huge because I was able to respond due to their positive energy that they were pouring into me. I was able to respond and come up with a few big plays, a couple assists, a couple offensive rebounds, couple stops. And so credit to those guys. Everyone has an impact. Yeah. It was huge of them to keep my mind in the game and they kept my mind there. And I was able to contribute in a way that could help us win. So big shouts out to those guys. That was absolutely amazing. And so, like I said, for those that were wondering, no, Steve didn't talk to me, nor did he need to talk to me. That's just the way it goes. If someone else is getting it done more, then that's just that. And I can live with that. And I have to be ready to help the team whenever that is. And you know, it came back around to me and that was that. Now I think for me going home in game 5, it'll be very important that I continue to take the shots that are there. You know, the shots that I'm missing, I trust and you know, they'll go in and I'm gonna keep shooting them. And I'm gonna continue to, do what I can to help this team win so that we can come out of this year as the NBA champions. That is the goal. That's the goal that you go into every season with. That's the goal that we go into every season with. And you know, we're 2 games away. And so whatever I have to do to help this team win, that's always what I'm gonna do. Andrew Wiggins had an absolutely incredible night. He held JT to 23 points on 23 shots, which was absolutely huge. He was a team-high +20. Team-high +20. For those that don't know, that means we essentially won the game, for lack of a better term, by 20 points when Andrew Wiggins was on the floor. He was +20. Absolutely incredible. Yeah. 16 rebounds, 17 points, 16 rebounds. Wigs career high in any game in his career of rebounding was 11 rebounds prior to tonight. 16 rebounds in arguably the biggest game of the year and arguably, not arguably, in the biggest game of his career. To come out with 16 rebounds is a true testament to his hard work, to his toughness and his will to win. I thought that was absolutely incredible for a guy who's been drug about about that and drug about his intensity and all. 16 rebounds tells us everything that we need to know. Now, Draymond Green, Steph Curry, myself, and Wiggs were sitting in the locker room. I was getting dressed, Steph was getting dressed. I think Wiggs was getting ready to shower. And Draymond walks over and he's like, "Yeah, man, it's your most rebounds in any game. Your highest any game before that was 11." And Steph and I, Steph immediately thought the same thing I thought. Now obviously Steph isn't gonna say it, so I'm always left to say it. But he immediately thought the same thing I thought. And Steph looked up and I said, "Wow, Wiggs, that's incredible. 16 rebounds. But we must tell you how pathetic that is, Wiggs, that your previous high was only 11 rebounds as athlet—" And you know what Wiggs said, "Man." I know, man. I know. But forget that. You got it done tonight, brother, when we needed it the most, and it was absolutely amazing. But that was a little fun moment that we had, that we shared in the locker room to poke a little fun at one of the guys. And we're gonna need him to continue to play that way. Obviously, he's been very important this entire run, and guys who's been guarding, but also what he's been doing on offensive end, and more importantly, on the glass. It's been absolutely amazing. So big shots out to Wiz. Killer Klay had 18 points, including a huge 3, a huge 3 that took the lead. And it was a Klay ball. For those of y'all that don't know what a Klay ball is, that means you catch it at eye level and just raise up. Ain't no dip, ain't— boom. And he knocked it down. Fans, Hazel is pissed off, by the way. Because they were chanting, "Fuck you, Draymond! Fuck you, Draymond!" By the way, my name don't even rhyme with like that whole like chant. Like it don't, like, you're like, you know, your chant is supposed to be like, you know, like if I had a one-syllable name, like then it would work. Steph, Klay. Yeah. Even if it was like Wigs, Steve, it would work. But Draymond actually doesn't work. Shout out to my mom for the name. It's beneficial for me in this case. It actually don't work. But on a serious note, I know Hazel is very upset just because our kids were at the game and they're listening to that. And quite frankly, I don't make much of it. I'm, you know, for my daughter who's 1, my 7-year-old's not here as she has school. 5-year-old DJ, I'm raising a warrior, no pun intended. Like I'm raising a man. So I don't make much of him hearing that or seeing that. Like it is what it is. And so for me, I don't make much of it. Like I said, my 1-year-old, my baby girl isn't like, she probably can't even make out what they're saying. And then for DJ who can, like, this is what it is, man. This is what you got. And you know, like I said before, he say he's gonna be a coach. Maybe that's you one day that they're yelling at like that. But you've seen your dad go through it and we okay. We walked outta there smiling with our head held high. Me chasing him down the hallway and him having a good time. And that's how we gonna walk outta there on Friday. But I think for me and for him to see that, I'm actually happy he saw that. I'm actually happy he saw that because for the rest of his life, we will have the opportunity to talk about, you remember when I went through X, Y, and Z when you were 5? And you remember those people were saying this and saying that. Like, it's okay, you can get through it. Ain't no big deal. So that's all it is for me. Yes, my family is livid and trust me, I get it. I totally understand. But for me, who's raising a young Black man in America, for him to understand how this world works, for him to understand how America works, as opposed to how they say America works. That was just another example of it. And so no harm, no foul. Fuck Draymond! Fuck Draymond! Fuck you too.
