Draymond takes pride in laying foundation for future Warriors success originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Whether the Warriors win another championship during the 2024-25 NBA season, or whether it’s five, 10 or 15 years from now, Draymond Green believes his fingerprints will be all over the organization’s next title — whether he’s playing or not.
That’s because he and longtime teammates Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the latter of whom departed this offseason to join the Dallas Mavericks, built the Warriors organization into what it has become ever since the dynastic trio won its first championship together in 2015.
Green spoke exclusively with The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson at the team’s training camp in Lāʻie, Hawaii where he discussed his commitment to winning now and the importance of helping build a strong foundation for future teams.
“Whether we win another championship or not,” Green told Thompson. “If (the Warriors) win the championship seven years from now, 10 years from now, that’s our championship. Period.”
Curry, the senior of the three longtime Warriors teammates, was selected with the No. 7 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Golden State was fresh off a 29-53 2008-2009 season which was followed by an even worse 26-56 2009-2010 season in Curry’s rookie campaign.
The Warriors then posted a record of 36-46 in the following season before selecting Thompson with the No. 11 pick in the 2011 draft and a record of 23-43 in the 2011-12 season before selecting Green with the No. 35 pick in the 2012 draft.
Golden State consistently was one of the league’s worst teams around the time all three future Hall of Famers were drafted and because of how far the organization has come since then, Green always has and always will feel invested in its success — even long after his career ends.
“When you’ve built this s— up from the laughingstock of the NBA,” Green explained to Thompson, “… it feels a little different. I said to Joe Lacob two years ago, like, ‘You should understand I think about this organization like it’s mine.’ No disrespect to them that own this but, like, I take a great deal of pride in what we built here. This is home for me. This is like Michigan State for me. Most people don’t have an NBA home. I care what this organization looks like in 10 years. That’s going to matter to me.”
Green believes the current Warriors squad still has what it takes to hoist the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy one more time before he and Curry retire but he knows it won’t be nearly as easy as the previous four championship runs.
“I know I ain’t done. I know he ain’t done,” Green told Thompson, pointing to Curry. “So it ain’t like, ‘All right, I feel like I’m at the end. I’m cashing it in.’ Nah. We can do that s— again. I know we can do it again. I’m not a part of the consortium that don’t think we can get it done.
“But in doing it again, you’ve got to acknowledge that it’s not going to look like it did before. I’d struggle if we were just cashing it in. That ain’t for me. But I don’t feel like anyone around here is doing that. We’re actively trying to put the pieces together to build.”
Whether or not Green and the Warriors have what it takes to compete for another championship remains to be seen. Some — or even most — evaluators believe Golden State is nothing more than a play-in tournament team. Or at best, a playoff team who maybe can win a first-round series.
Regardless of what Golden State’s fate is this season, Green will take pride in the Warriors’ next championship — whenever that day comes.
NBC Sports BayArea
