Draymond Green on His Future with Warriors & Series Loss vs Lakers, Postgame Interview

Foreigner Steve just said that when he was looking around the locker room to come in here he could feel and see the fatigue and disappointment on his guys face those are the two words used would you agree that those are the overwhelming feelings right now ? I guess definitely. disappointed um and I think you know you just don't know how to feel it's been a long time since we broke up in May um like trying to process the feelings and you know move on, but you know every time you don't win a championship disappointment For us, you know, the franchise that we value ourselves for trying to hang banners, you know, but at the end of the day, they were the best team in this

series

and you have to give them credit.

They did the things necessary to win this

series

. so hats off to them, but it's definitely disappointing to end now that this, um, this wasn't just some kind of abrupt, stunning

loss

in the playoffs, you guys obviously had a pretty rocky season throughout when you look back on the big picture. season, you know where it went off track, you think? I think there were several things that went wrong throughout the season and also things that you can't prepare for, as you know, it's hard to prepare. for the things that happened at the beginning of the season and then recovering from that, but we knew that it's hard to prepare for all the injuries that we face throughout the season because wigs are missing during the time we miss wigs and you know all the things that are happening and to say there's no excuses, this happens throughout every season and you know if you win the championship it's a crime, it's like, man, we went through this, we went through this and we got through it, um yeah.

You lose, you don't know, you don't go back and blame all those things and say, oh man, this is the reason we lost. No, every season is made up of events, some are great, some aren't, um, I think for this team. Most of the events that aren't so good were so public and you know that's not something you normally deal with, so the world knows, you know, the tough times that these teams have, but there are tough times, You know, in every season. I know that when winning the championship there are difficult moments. Remember David West said something a few years ago and everyone's like, "Wow, that's how it is every year, like these are things that happen and you, you, you, you get together and you try to figure it out and I think you know." for the most part we try to do that we fall short and you know that happens to you but overall we're not done yet you know he missed this year we'll be back next year at that point Draymond to hear you say . like we're not done yet, you know, Steve explained that you, Steph and Clay have many years left together, you know, if you love them, do you feel like the clock is ticking a little bit?

I believe the clock is ticking in all of our lives. Like everyone here, we all have an expiration date, so I think the clock is ticking for all of us when it comes to basketball, 100, this ticket, um, and that's on every man in this league, every woman that works, that's everyone, so yeah, the clock. it's ticking I think you know when you have that much success um then people start like they really put you on that clock you know like they put you against the clock uh when you have a lot of success when you don't have a lot of success nobody cares no one cares how old you are how young you are um it doesn't matter when you're not succeeding but when you are it all matters and that's why the clock is on our account uh just because we've been successful for so long, that's great, I think that that It's the position 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 every year and that's what we'll do.

Moving on to Draymond, the first part of this, what was going on with your calf tonight and even though you said you're still processing everything that we're going to be, you know, some of your main focuses this offseason, my number one main focus one is my family which is always the most important thing to me when it comes to my Coffee, I don't know if it was a cramp or if I threw it a little but when I went back it loosened so I thought. It was just bullshit, um, and I would have been back in the game.

Bob stopped me, said we're down 22 points, there's five and a half and six minutes left, you go back out there, 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 going to do it so he could have gotten 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 keep trying to build and then you know, we'll see what happens as far as my contract goes. Obviously I have not opted out.

Everybody knows. Um, I knew it. I am aware. that, but like I told you, my three years I want to be a warrior for the rest of my life. I want to ride with the same guys that I rode with and you know, I think you know, we try hard. for that to happen, you know, we're here, we're 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 um. Yeah, I mean, those are some of my priorities.

Travel a little. um, you know, refill the cup. Possibly play FIFA, we'll see, work hard and be better next year. They are my priorities, a dream when it comes to this series. and you know that now we are a champion team on the field, what were the missing ingredients? What was required? Couldn't they do it? Well, you know, I wish I had that answer for you. Or why we couldn't achieve it. It's done I think you know at the end of the day you do what you can, you do your best and if you come up short it's a rare thing for us, so you just come up short, 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 next year is a different result, 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 that our roster can be better, everyone, um, and you know as a team you're always looking to improve that, uh, however, that's not my focus, that's not my job, my job is, you know the guys who are there. She's ready to go out there and try to win a championship, we came up a little short this year, but I said it's not over, we'll come back, we'll try to do it again, we dream here, um, Stephen Clay, there's six of us. 26 from three today and obviously shooting below his standards for most of this series Steve was talking about the Lakers defense and maybe a little fatigue.

How surprised are you when they missed shots they've made so often over the years and what do you think? caused that more than anything else um I mean you gotta get a defense credit you know the way they were swarming I'm all series you know we always talk about it if you can form a guy oh series or all night , you know, once he looks openly, it doesn't feel as open because you've just been overrun and now you're hustling and I think for clay, in particular, a lot of his shots are hurried, but when you're so surprised when he gets a look open because they're just covered over them they're not helping they're not leaving your body so I felt like once you had one open it would rush um and yet Klay Thompson probably has one of the quickest triggers of all we've seen in league history, so was it really rushed or not really rushed?

I don't know, he'd be sitting there like it was clay, maybe you rushed a little bit but then you go out and hit five in a row where he didn't even knock the ball down and that may seem like a tough shot, but that's what he's trying to accomplish and in the end of the day they missed some shots, they're human, they had a great look and If they can get the look they need, I'll live with that and if that means our season ends early every year, great, but I don't think that's the case, it hasn't been the case, it will not 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 uh you know Donovan Ham did a great job of implementing a great game plan they did a good job of executing that plan game, but I thought they looked good and they usually make those looks, they just didn't come in tonight more the weekend than that Draymond.

We've witnessed so much Magic from this team over the years and Steve said that this year I just felt like this was the ultimate version of this group that this wasn't a championship group after all in the regular season and then that you all showed here. I'm wondering if you agree with that assessment with that gut feeling and then if that's the case with the same core, trying to do it again, how do you get back to that? I think this group definitely maximized 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 cores change, that doesn't mean our core can't do it again, I mean they said we couldn't do it again last year, we did, they said we missed the playoffs this anus.

We did it but guess what we didn't, we don't do more Victory so we lost and this wasn't a championship bracket as it is but we have champions and we are made up of champions and when you are a champion when you have that mentality you just go back to the table of drawing, you restructure, you reimagine it and you do it again and that will be our focus, but it was not a championship group, as we can see, we are sitting. Here and the season is over, so we'll figure it out. This group was at its best.

We got what we could get out of it, but this is not at its maximum. So we'll get more out of Draymond. What do you think of yourself? I know through all the adversity this team went through this season. What did you learn about yourself and this tape? I learned a lot about myself. um number one, just a reminder of how you deal with adversity. I think for me, um, you know all the time. We meet some adversity in life, you eat the enemy or you face him and once again I reminded myself that I am capable of facing any challenge whatever, you never know until you overcome it, and so on for me.

I learned myself, I learned some patience, you know how to operate when things are not on your terms and how to navigate those things, and you know, pick and choose your spots, as I think you know, this year has helped me. as a person, as much as as a basketball player, so, I'm not someone that you know when things are going well, you're great and everything is good and you're the man when things are going so well, that's when you make yourself and I feel like , for me, that's always my focus. You know that when your back is against the wall, everyone is against you.

The things go wrong. How are you going to face that? Will you continue to defend those same principles that you have been? Standing tall, will you still be in the same business you've been in? And for me, I can honestly say I did that. It didn't end how I wanted it to end and how I would have loved it to end, but. I can go home and sleep at night knowing that I'm standing on the same feet, the same business, the same principles and everything else that I've relied on for the last 11 years and I can live with that and you know, keep trying. improve as a person as a basketball player that is my goal that is who I am that is what I have done I will continue to do great