In this monologue, Draymond Green reflects on the Golden State Warriors' recent playoff exit and the ongoing debate about whether the team was "maxed out" this season. He emphasizes that while the roster may have reached its ceiling, the organization and its core players still have untapped potential. Green recounts a candid conversation with Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry about the importance of getting into peak physical condition over the summer and maintaining the brotherhood that has sustained the franchise for 11 years. He analyzes strategic shortcomings, noting the lack of "changeup" players (e.g., Otto Porter, Nemanja Bjelica) that limited the Warriors' ability to adjust against opponents like the Lakers and Celtics, and admits the team never truly cracked the playoff code. Green then shifts to his personal contract situation, describing his player option, his relationship with agent Rich Paul, and the business considerations that will shape his next move, while promising to announce any decision first on his show. Finally, he addresses external critics who claim the Warriors' dynasty is over, defending the team's resilience and expressing confidence that they will win more championships.
Chapters
What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to The Volume's YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. Just moving forward, thoughts on the future of the Warriors. I know, like I mentioned earlier, Steve said like this team maxed out. And I said this thing isn't maxed out, but this team was maxed out. Like I can 100% agree with that as I said earlier. But when I said this thing isn't maxed out, what I mean, I mean like we've been rolling. We've been doing this now. I've been here 11 years, we've been rolling for 9. And that ain't over. You know, like I always say, I'm riding out with the same guys I rode in with. And what I know about those guys that I rode in with, still a lot left in the tank and still a lot of winning. Yeah. Ahead of us. I was talking to Klay as we were sitting at the table last night, Ty, Klay, Steph, and myself, just like how important and big of a summer this is. Like how, how like locking in, like how locked in we need to be. Like, yeah, this like, no, I don't think this is it. I'll say it right here for you. No, this isn't it. We plan on doing this thing again. That's the plan. Obviously this is a business and things has to take place. I get that. "But we plan on doing this again." But was just sitting there at the table stressing the importance of like us coming in in shape and like being ready to go and like getting our bodies to the best space that you can get your body. And like how big of a year this is for us next year. And the first thing he said, he said, "Hell yeah." Like, "I still wanna be an All-Star again. I still wanna win more champ— like I wanna do all of these things again." Like, and last summer for me, it just wasn't like, Like, that's my first summer in 2 and a half years, a different summer, but I'm ready to attack this summer. And like, that was great. Number one, to just be able to sit there and have that conversation. Like, so many people aren't open to that conversation. And to know that we can still have those conversations after 11 years. You always talk about like bands breaking up and like this thing get too big and that thing get too big. And like to still have those conversations 11 years later, That's why we win. And that's why we will win again. Because it's not just about one guy. It's not, you can't say this to me or I can't say this to you. Like, nah, it's a brotherhood when we, it's really that. And so looking forward to this summer, it's gonna be a great summer for us. And it'll be a great year for us next year. And so that's what I meant on this thing isn't maxed out. Yeah. Although that team was maxed out. Like we got all we can get out the team. Sucks that it did not finish the way you ultimately wanted to finish. Another thing Klay said I thought was interesting was like, "Man, I was looking at the Spurs and like what they were able to do, they never won back-to-back championships." Like, yeah, it's true. He's like, "Man, so like we still got more to do." Like, absolutely. It's hard to win back-to-back championships. Ultimately, your team has to get better to win back-to-back championships. I'm not sure this team got better. I'm not sure this was a better team. I know it wasn't. This wasn't a better team than we had last year. So that's the case. In saying that, as a competitor, you do all that you can to try to make it happen and win. And I think we did that. Like I said, like Steve said, it maxed out. It's okay. Another thing that I thought was interesting was Steph said there was no changeup that we had to throw at the Lakers lineup. And I think that's true. Like when you look at rosters, having guys like Otto Porter, Nemanja Bielica, like those were changeups that you could throw at different things. Like we threw at the Celtics last year, Otto Porter, like those were different changeups. That you can throw when all this stuff is going on and it can throw a team off. We didn't have as many capabilities to do those things as we have in years past, in championship years past. I can agree with Steph on that. And, you know, ultimately those things matter when it's in the playoffs because again, it comes down to Team that's gonna play the hardest, the team that's gonna play with more force, adjustments, obviously skill and talent, that goes without saying. But, you know, it comes down to those things. And when you're capped or limited on how much you can do, it makes a difference. And ultimately those teams usually lose. Like when I look back on this series, I always say there's like, and I don't say this because like we lost, like, —because there's always a point in the series that we get to and we like, all right, we got them, they done. And we never got to that point with this team of like, all right, we got them, we got them figured out. Yes, we figured some things out for sure. Getting AD in space, pulling him away from the basket, like getting Bron in some actions. Like we figured some things out, but ultimately it wasn't enough. Like we didn't figure them out. Like we didn't crack the code. Like— Yeah. Every series, Jackson tried to get me to tell y'all last series when we cracked Saks code, like Draymond, as your producer, it's my job to get you to say that. 'Cause I would tell him, we get on here, I'm like, Jackson, we got this team figured out. They can't beat us. Like, and he got accustomed to that last year when I would tell him that last year, he's like, oh, okay. But like, they really be figuring out. And this year I told him once we figured Saks out, like, yo, we got them figured out, they toast. And sure enough we did. Like this series, we never got to a point to where we like, yo, all right, we got it. Crack the code. That's it. They done. Obviously we lost. So that goes without saying. But like you can get to that point and still lose by the way. Like, and like the ball don't bounce your way or something like that. What I'm saying is this wasn't like a ball didn't bounce your way thing. Last night I thought we got great looks to start the game and they just didn't go in. Yes, that is a fact, of course. But in saying that, I still don't think we ever just cracked the code. Like, yes, we got to a space where we could win games and ultimately got to a space to where we could have possibly won the series, but it still wasn't a code cracked, this is it. And that's, you know, here we are, May 12th, May 13th, finished. So it makes sense. And that's kind of what the changeup talk was. So that's, that was that. My future with the Warriors, obviously I have a player option. I have not had the opportunity. I have the best agent in the game. For those of you out there who don't understand the business or know the business, My agent is Mr. Richard Paul, Rich Paul for short, for those of you who don't know who Richard is. He is the best in the business. I said all of that to say, we have not had the opportunity yet to sit down and discuss any future things. If I call Rich during the season and I was like, "Rich, all right, so here's what I'm thinking for free agent," he'd probably hang up in my face. When you do start to discuss those things, like during the season, like he has a very funny way of like veering the conversation a totally different way. And not like, Rich was in my wedding. Like that's my brother. Like that's my big brother. Super close to him. So we talk all the time and it's not in a way of like where you notice he changed the conversation, but he just smoothly redirect the conversation somewhere else. And in large part that he's like, he's not ever jumping the gun. He's not about to talk contract during a season unless it's like, yo, we need to get an extension done before the season is over. That's just not how he operates. And so we have not had that discussion yet. So as far as future goes, like, I don't know what the options will be. I don't know. What my option will be here. I don't know any of those things. So I can't, what I can tell you is like I said last night, which is I want to be here. You know, I want to, like this is, I've been here 11 years. Like you don't just get out of the way. You don't just throw that away. And quite frankly, I think we still have more championships that we can and will win. So, and understanding all of that, I wanna be here, but also in understanding that this is a business. I know the business side of it. I know the penalties that lie ahead with the new CBA. I know all of those things. I think winning is worth it, and I know we still will win. So there you have it. That's kind of my outlook on the future. When I do have a decision, you will know it here first. How about that? You will know it here first whenever that decision is made, whether I'm gonna opt out, whether— I don't know. Again, I don't know what it is. We haven't discussed it. So there's that. You all would know first. A lot of people saying the Warriors dynasty are over, um, which are the same people that said it was over in 2019 when KD left. Yeah. 4 years later, they're still saying it's over. Great. They're always wrong. Those same people are the same folks that said I'd never make it in the NBA. Those people are the same folks that said they're a jump shooting team and they won't win. It's those people. They're saying the dynasty's over. But also know and pay attention to who the people that are saying the dynasty are over. It's always people that never been a part of a dynasty. You never really see Shaquille O'Neal, the great Shaq, my favorite player as a kid growing up, say, "Oh man, it's over." You know why? Because that man understand what it's like. He gets it. But there's always people that run and say, "Oh man, it's over." You don't even know how it feels to start it. So fast to say it's over. It's not. But we'll prove that again and we'll shut people up again and that'll be fun to do. That's always the best thing to do. That's always the fun part. Looking forward to doing that 'cause this thing is not over. 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.
