Draymond Green Reacts To Warriors Game 6 vs Lakers | May 12, 2023

Draymond, Steve just said, when he was looking around the locker room to come in here, he could just feel and see fatigue and disappointment on your guys' face. Those are the two words he used. Would you agree that those are the overwhelming feelings right now, I guess? Definitely disappointed. And I think, you know, just don't know how to feel. It's been a long time since we finished in May. So just trying to process the feelings and, you know, move forward. But, you know, anytime you don't win a championship, it's a disappointment for us, you know, a franchise who pride ourselves on trying to hang banners. But at the end of the day, they were the better team this series, and you got to give them their credit. They did the things that it took to win this series. So tip your hat to them, but it's definitely disappointing to finish, be done now. This wasn't just like kind of an abrupt, stunning playoff defeat. You guys obviously had a pretty bumpy season the whole way. When you look back bigger picture at this season, just, you know, where did it kind of get off the tracks, do you think? I think there were several things that went wrong throughout the course of this season. And also just things that you can't prepare for. Like, you know, it's hard to prepare for the things that happened in the beginning of the season and then bounce back from that. But we did. You know, it's hard to prepare for all the injuries that we dealt with throughout the season for, you know, missing wigs for the time that we missed wigs and, you know, all the things that's going on. And saying that, there's no excuses. Shit happens throughout every season. And, you know, if you win a championship, it's a battle cry. And it's like, yeah, man, we went through that. We went through this and we got through it. If you lose, you don't, you know, you don't go back and blame all of those things and say, oh man, this is the reason we lost. No, every season is made up of events. Some are great, some are not. I think for this team, more of the events that aren't so great were so public. And, you know, that's not something that you normally deal with. And so the world knows, you know, the tough times that this team's had. But there's tough times, you know, in every season. You know, winning a championship, there are tough times. I remember David West said something some years back and everybody was like, whoa, like, that's every year. Like, it's things going on and you band together and you try to work around them. And I think, you know, for the most part, we tried to do that. We fell short and, you know, that happens. But overall, we're not done yet. You know, we lost this year. We'll be back next year. On that point, Draymond, to hear you say, like, we're not done yet. You know, Steve explained that you and Steph and Clay have a lot of years left together. You know, if you want those. Do you feel the clock ticking a little bit? I think the clock is ticking on all of our lives. Like everyone in here, we all have an expiration date. And so I think the clock is ticking on all of us. As far as basketball goes, 100% is ticking. And that's on every man in this league. Every woman that works, that's everybody. And so, yeah, the clock is ticking. And I think, you know, when you have so much success, then people start, like, they really put you on that clock, you know? Like, they put you up against the clock. When you have a ton of success. When you don't have a ton of success, no one cares. No one cares how old you are, how young you are. It doesn't matter when you're not having success. But when you are, every little thing matters. So the clock is on us, just because we've been successful for so long. That's cool. I think that's the position that you want to be in. But for us, we don't pay attention to the clock. We just work and work and try to win each and every year. And that's what we'll continue to do. Draymond, first part of this, what was going on with your calf tonight? And although you said you're still processing everything, where are going to be, you know, some of your primary focuses this off season? My number one primary focus is my family. That is always the most important thing to me. As far as my calf, I don't know if it was a cramp or if I pulled it a little bit. But when I went back to the back, it loosened up. So I figured it was just a cramp. And I would have went back in the game. Bob stopped me, said we're down 22 points. So it's five and a half, six minutes to go. You go back out there and you tear your calf and then you're rehabbing the rest of the summer, trying to chase a 22 point lead. It's not smart and we're not doing it. So I could have went back in the game. And I think that's a good sign. And, you know, other priorities. I have a media business I'm trying to build. I'll continue to try to build. And then, you know, we'll see what happens as far as my contract goes. Obviously, I have an opt out. Everybody know about that. I know about that. I'm aware of that. But as I've told you guys, mine's three years. I want to be a warrior for the rest of my life. I want to ride out with the same dudes I rode in with. And, you know, I think we've put the work in to make that happen. You know, here we are. Our worst season as a whole since 2014. And yet, you know, we had a chance to make another run. So it's never as bad as it seems. It's never as good as it seems. But yeah, I mean, those are some of my priorities. Travel a little bit. You know, refill the cup. Possibly play FIBA. We'll see. And work my ass off and be better next year. That's my priorities. Jermon, as far as like this series and this not being a championship team on the floor, what were the missing ingredients? Why were you guys not able to get it done? Well, I think, you know, I wish I had that answer for you. Why we weren't able to get it done. I think, you know, at the end of the day, you do what you can. You give your best. And if you come up short, which is kind of rare for us, then you just come up short and you figure out why. And you go back to the drawing board and you work and you do what you have to do to make sure that next year is a different outcome. You know, as far as our roster as a whole, you know, I think we had a lot of good pieces. And, you know, I think everyone in the world will always say our roster can be better. Everybody. And, you know, as a team, you're always looking to make that better. However, that's not my focus. That's not my job. My job is, you know, the guys that's on this roster to go out there and try to win a championship. We came up a little short this year, but I said, not done. We'll be back to try to do it again. Draymond over here. Steph and Clay were six for 26 from three today, and obviously shot below their standards for most of the series. Steve was talking about the Lakers defense and maybe a little fatigue. How surprised are you when they miss shots they've made so often over the years? And what do you think caused that more than anything else? I mean, you got to get our defense credit, you know, the way they were swarming all series. You know, we always talk about that. If you can swarm a guy all series or all night, you know, once they get an open look, it doesn't feel so open because you've just been swarmed, and now you're rushed. And I think for Clay in particular, a lot of his shots, he rushed. But you're so surprised when you get an open look because they're just draped over him. They're not helping. They're not leaving his body. And so I felt like then once he would get an open one, he would rush it. And yet, Clay Thompson probably has one of the quickest triggers that we've all seen in league history. So is it actually rushed or is it actually not? I don't know. I'd be sitting there like, ah, Clay, maybe you rushed out a little bit. But then you come off and hit five straight where he doesn't even bring the ball down, and that may look like a rushed shot, but that's what he's trying to get to. And so at the end of the day, they missed some shots. They're human. They got great looks, and if they can get the looks that they gotta, I'll live with that. And if that means our season will end early every year, great. But I don't think that's the case. It hasn't been the case. It won't be the case. But every night is not your night. Every series is not your series. You gotta give those guys credit for their defense. You know, Darvahan did a great job of implementing a great game plan. They did a good job of executing that game plan, but I thought they had some good looks, and they normally make those looks that just didn't go in tonight. Two more on the weekend and then. Draymond, we've witnessed so much magic from this team over the years, and Steve said that this year, it just sort of felt like this was the maxed out version of this group, that this wasn't a championship group after everything in the regular season, and then what you all displayed here. I wonder if you agree with that assessment, with that gut feeling, and then if that is the case with the same core kind of trying to do it again, how do you get back to that? Oh, I think this group definitely maxed out what we could do. You know, it wasn't a championship team. We didn't win it, so it sucks, but that's our reality. That doesn't mean our core changes. That doesn't mean our core can't do it again. Like, I mean, they said we couldn't do it again last year. We did it. They said we missed the playoffs this year. We did it, but guess what? We don't do more victories, so we lost, and this was not a championship group as it stands, but we have champions, and we're made up of champions, and when you are a champion, when you have that mindset, you just go back to the drawing board, retool, refigure it out, and go do it again, and that's what'll be our focus, but it wasn't a championship group, as we can see. We're sitting here, and the season's over, so we'll figure it out. This group was maxed. We got what we could get out of it, but this thing isn't maxed, and so we'll get more out of that. Draymond, what do you think about, you know, through all the adversity that this team went through this season, what did you learn about yourself and this team? I learned a ton about myself. Number one, just a reminder how you stand in the face of adversity. I think for me, you know, every time we hit some adversity in life, you either fold or you rise up to it, and I once again reminded myself that I'm capable of rising up to whatever that challenge is. You never know until you go through it, and so for me, myself, I learned some patience, you know, just how to operate when things aren't quite on your terms, and how to navigate those things, and, you know, pick and choose your spots. Like, I think, you know, this year has helped me as a person as much as it has as a basketball player, so I am not one, you know, just when things are going well, you're great, and everything's fine, and you're the man. When things aren't so great, that's when you make yourself, and I feel like, for me, that's always my focus, is, you know, when your back's against the wall, everybody's against you, things are going wrong, how are you going to stand up to that? Are you still going to stand on those same principles you've been standing on? Is you going to still stand on the same business you've been standing on? And for me, I can honestly say I did that. It didn't end the way I wanted it to end and how I would have loved it to end, but I can go home and sleep at night knowing I stand on the same two feet, the same business, the same principles, and everything else that I've stood on for the last 11 years, and I can live with that. And, you know, I continue to try to get better as a person, as a basketball player. That's my goal. That's who I am. That's what I've done. I'll continue to do that. Great. Thank you. Looks like Steph and Clay are both with us.