In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, Draymond Green breaks down Game 6 of the Warriors‑Grizzlies Western Conference semifinals. He praises the Grizzlies’ young, unfazed roster and strong team culture, noting that their future success will hinge on maintaining that cohesion as they face higher expectations. Green then shifts to the iconic "Game 6 Klay" narrative, emphasizing how Klay Thompson’s belief in his own clutch legacy fuels his performance. He provides a statistical rundown of the game—Steph Curry (29 points), Klay Thompson (30), Andrew Wiggins (18/11), Draymond Green (14/15/8), and especially Kevon Looney’s career‑high 22 rebounds and minutes, crediting Looney as the tone‑setter and a key factor in the win. Green also reflects on the series’ chippiness, injuries, and the learning process for both teams, underscoring the importance of culture, belief, and resilience in playoff basketball.
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What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies Game 6. Man, let me tell you something. That game, as you see, you can see, we went up 10, they cut it to 2. We went up 10, they cut it to 1. We went up 10, they go up 1. As I tweeted this a while back, that Memphis Grizzlies team, those young guys are unfazed. They're unbothered by anything. And that's such a great trait to have when you're trying to make runs. They were never fazed by our runs. We get down to the 6-minute mark, They may have been up 2 or it was a tie ball game right in there. And that's when we started to make our run. We started to pull away. But that team, that team has a bright future, has a very bright future. Now what that team has to fight against is now they're gonna be expected to do more, right? So you go to the second round, tough matchup with us. They're gonna be expected to do more. Accolades come in, all of those things, egos get bigger, you know, as guys get older, as they solidify themselves more. And so that team has to keep all of that together. You know, I know everyone's out there saying, oh, the money and this. It's the things that go on within your team that matters much more than money. It's the culture. And they have it. They have a good culture. Those young guys, they rock with each other. They— Yeah. They dance, they do all this stuff. But again, as you get older, you don't dance as much, you know, and you don't celebrate as much or party together as much or whatever they may do. That's when all of those things matter more and more and more than obviously reaching new levels of success. But as I said in my press conference the other day, with all the chippiness in the series and the injuries, the eye knock, the The Gritty when the shot goes up, the he fouled him, he hurt him, whoop that trick. Like all of the stuff that went on in the series. As you're going through that, I'm just like, I can't wait to finish this series off and just like shut these dudes up. And like Gritty on the court and like, you know, those are just the thoughts you're thinking as you're going through it. And then I got to the end of it and I'm like, man, that was so hard. It was so hard. I have nothing but respect for those young guys. Nothing but respect. They, the way they fought, the way they competed from the beginning of the series to the end, they made us a much better team. I don't take that for granted at all. I mean, you just, you really have to give those guys their credit. And for me, You know, I saw even after Dylan Brooks like, "Oh, they're getting old." Like, y'all said that last year. You know, like, all right, cool. I thought Steph killed it with him. Well, he said there was a dynasty, he was a dynasty. Like, stop, you know? And of course, stop. Like, I think what that team will learn as they continue to grow is how to win. There was some things that went on in that series That just shows me that they're still young. And as they get older, they'll learn how to win. They'll learn just different things about winning games down the stretch and how to pull out these tight games in those situations. They'll continue to learn that as you get more experience. And that's when you always hear a team say like, but that team knows how to win. And so, You know, I know there are some things that they'll continue to get better at and they'll continue to grow. Game plan, discipline stuff, just different things that you learn. I don't want to say you learn by losing, but you learn going through the process. And normally when you have to learn going through the process, you do lose. And so it's not necessary that you learn from losing. You just learn by going through that actual process. And so I think, you know, the next time we face those guys, they'll know more. I don't necessarily say they're going to beat us, but they'll know more and it'll get tougher and it'll get tougher. And then one day maybe they will, because who's ever the king of the parking lot forever, you know? So maybe one day they get it, but we still going and it's still fun and we're still doing what we do. And Game 6 Klay is still Game 6 Klay. Game 6 Klay, last time playing in the playoffs. Yeah. Before this year was Game 6 and he was cooking Toronto Raptors. Game 6, Klay showed up again. And you know, I think one of the beautiful things about Game 6 Klay is like that obviously became this narrative and like this thing of people saying, Klay really believes that now. Like in his head he like, of course it's Game 6. Like, of course I'm gonna do this. Are you crazy? And like he approaches the game like that and it's one of the most incredible. Yeah. Things to watch is, I mean, it shows you how powerful the mind is. Like, for those out there that just doesn't understand how powerful your thoughts are, how powerful your beliefs are, the mind is a very powerful thing. And he believes, like, Game 6 Klay is a real thing. And guess what? If Killer Klay believe it, I believe it. And he continues to show it. And so that was absolutely incredible. I thought one of the big things that I really took away from that game and how hard it really was is Steph finished the game with 29. Klay finished the game with 30. Wiggins finished the game with 18 and 11. I finished the game with 14, 15, and 8 assists. Looney finished the game with 22 rebounds. We did not pull away from that team until the 4 or 5 minute mark of the, of the 4th quarter. We needed all of that. We needed everybody to play well. That's how tough that young team were. They were really tough. And you have to, like I said before, you have to give them their credit. But we definitely put it all together and it was great to see all of us have a good game and need it, all play well at the same time in order to move forward. I have to, once again, I'm not just gonna breeze over this like this isn't a big deal. Kevon Looney was absolutely— Draymond Green. Amazing. You know, Steph and I had been pushing for him to start. And you know, the reason we were is just like, it may not have looked like that or felt like that on the bench as a coach, but on the court it felt like we were getting dominated. Like if you're out there, you like, you feel like you getting dominated. Another reason I really wanted Kevon to start is because I wanted to start on Jaren Jackson from the beginning of the game. Mm-hmm. And going through the series, they started trying to take advantage of our lack of size on Jaren Jackson. So I would get on him and I would feel like he's kind of looking at me like fresh meat when I come out there to guard him. But he's already kind of in his rhythm and feeling, you know, the bravado from scoring. And so I wanted to start on him from the beginning of the game. That was a big thing for me starting that game. It's like, I need to take him outta the game. From the start of the game, first play, what do they do? Go to Jaren Jackson on the post, come up with the stop. That sets a different tone for our team. And that tone is set by who? I know I got the stop. And most people say, "Oh, Draymond, you set the tone." That tone is set by simply starting Kevon Looney. That's who set the tone. And he rebounded the basketball, 11 rebounds in the first quarter. I came out the game, When I came out the game in the first quarter, I looked up, I said, "Man, Looney." And then he got a rebound. I said, "Yo, Looney got 10 rebounds." They like, "Yeah." I'm like, "Wow, this is impressive." For Kevon Looney to play, not play much at all in this playoffs really, he was guarding Joker when I was out. And then, you know, for him to then play a career high in minutes, not playoff minutes, a career high in minutes, have 22 rebounds, save the day, save the season. Gotta give a lot of credit to that young man. A guy who been through numerous injuries, plays 82 games this year. Like, whatever happens to Loon this summer, and I hope it's here, I hope it's here, he get whatever he, whatever happens with him, he deserves. Yeah. Because that's a guy who worked his butt off, fought through injuries, true professional, and he come up on the biggest stage. So shout out to Kevon Looney and what he did for the dubs and extending our season 'cause we needed it in a major way. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
