Draymond Green emphasizes fun with the Golden State Warriors

HONOLULU – Forward Draymond Green was in paradise mentally and physically when he waded into the Pacific Ocean with his Golden State Warriors teammates at training camp on the island of Oahu.

Such an optional Warriors player bonding event was one Green typically would have passed on in recent seasons. But after the death of Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević in January and other reflections, the 34-year-old realized he needed to reengage with his teammates. So, with Milojević in mind, Green enjoyed the waves and camaraderie with his fellow Warriors.

“No. 1, I love the ocean,” Green told Andscape after the Warriors’ 91-90 exhibition win over the LA Clippers at the University of Hawaii on Oct. 5. “It’s refreshing. It revitalizes. But No. 2, just to have these moments together, we’ll look back on that. Those are the things that you’ll remember. We did that yoga session, then we all jumped in ocean.

“Those are the times that I miss. Basketball is one thing. Going out there and playing a game, I’m always going to go out there and try to play the best of my ability at the highest level. But in 20 years, we will be saying, ‘Remember when we were in Hawaii swimming in the ocean?’ ”

Green will be entering his 13th NBA season with the Warriors when the season begins next week. The four-time NBA All-Star often says that such a long tenure certainly wasn’t expected when he was a second-round pick in 2012. But reality has the defensive standout defying the odds with four championships, a 2017 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and unexpected longevity with one franchise.

Green told Andscape that he became less engaged with his teammates outside of work for three main reasons: Being a family man with a wife and three children, a been-there-done-that NBA veteran mentality, and a belief that he needed to be less engaged after punching then-Warriors teammate Jordan Poole in a 2022 practice.

Green’s mentality changed when Milojević died at age 46 after suffering a heart attack at a team dinner in Salt Lake City. Green was about to depart the Warriors’ team hotel to the dinner when the incident took place.

As all the tributes to Milojević took place, Green had a revelation that it was time for change.

“When Deki passed last season, you see all the pictures of everybody and stuff. And I realized, ‘All of the pictures, you’re not in none of them because you got bored with everything else,’ ” Green said. “So, all the moments everybody’s enjoying, ‘All right. Got to do this. Got to do that. Got to go get my body ready. Got to do this.’ And you forget to enjoy it. So, then it just turns into the grind. So, for me that was just a big reminder that you are missing the fun part of it. So, everything you’re doing is just to prepare to get ready. You’re missing the fun part of it.

“And so, for me that’s an emphasis this year. I always go to team dinners for the most part. But I mean hanging out before the game, when I get to the arena, it’s boom, boom, boom, boom, game. It’s like, ‘I got to go.’ All the fun happens in between.”

“It’s good that he called that out. Coming out to [Hawaii] was a good change of pace. Our [practice] facility, the same sights, same sounds, it gets a little redundant at times. To have everybody in one spot, families out here. Whatever, you try to get out of it, I like that he was very intentional about being in a safe space,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry told Andscape.

“Deki is a reminder about how life is. There is no secret now, we only got a handful of years to [play basketball] at the highest level.”

Green and the Warriors finish their preseason games Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers in San Francisco (ESPN2, 10:30 p.m. ET). The eight-time All-NBA Defensive Team selection spoke to Andscape about the reality of being near the end of his career, his relationship with Curry, why he believes this team could be successful, the departure of longtime teammate Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks and much more in the following Q&A.

What is your mentality going into the season?

Get back, set a reminder for everybody personally and obviously as a team. But a little reminder for everybody: We’re still here. Enjoy the year. Have fun. I always say I’m closer to the end than I am in the beginning. I just want to have fun.

You weren’t having fun before?

Yeah, for sure [I was]. But sometimes you get caught up in everything that’s going on around us when the fun that you need is right in front of us. But I mean more so enjoying everything about it. Basketball game is always fun. I’ve been doing that my whole life. But I mean having fun with everything before the game, after the game, embracing every single part of this journey.

Some of that you get tired of after a while. You get to the [arena] early. It’s a lot of time in your life. And so, for me, just enjoying a lot more of the moments in between, not even necessarily the game. I always enjoy playing the game of basketball. After a while it just become like, ‘Oh, another flight. Another practice.’ But for me, no that’s another opportunity to enjoy it and have fun. So, for me that’s an emphasis.

What did you take from Klay Thompson’s departure?

Klay’s departure is just a reminder of this don’t last forever. One day, everything that we know, it comes to an end. With Klay leaving, that’s a reminder of how fragile it is and how fast [it] can change. From one day to the next everything can look different in this league. That for me was just a reminder of that tomorrow it may not be the same team. It may not be the same person.

I have no reason to believe I won’t be here. But you can just never be too sure. Honestly, wholeheartedly in my heart, I believe I will finish my career here. But things change. That’s just the reality. And sometimes it’s not in your control. Sometimes it’s not in the Warriors’ control. It is just like that’s the sport. That’s the business we’re in.

When you think back to your first training camp, could you even envision this being around this long?

No. I was trying to be around for 30 more days every 30 days. Every 30 days I’m looking over my shoulder like, ‘Wonder if am going to get sent to the D-League today?’ I was on a two-year contract essentially, third year nonguaranteed. I was just trying to make it to the next contract my first couple of years. My first couple years, I’m counting down to Year 4. That’s when pension first kicks in. I get to Year 4, I start developing a pension. Year 10 full pension and family insurance.

And so early on in my career, I’m just looking at that. Then I get to Year 6 and I’m signing an extension. The thought was never I’ll be here forever. I was trying to be in the NBA as long as I could. I could have never in a million years dreamed that I’d still be here. That wasn’t in my sight because it’s just so rare. So why me? You see all these great players when I’m young moving around the league. What in my right mind makes me think that I’m just going to be here? Send me to 13 different places if you have to. I’m just trying to make it.

Then things start to develop and you’re like, ‘I’ve done special things here. We’ve done special things. How long can we keep it going? All right, keep it going a little longer. Oh, man, we got a chance to finish it [for a championship]. That’s incredible. Let’s focus on that and all you can to try to make it happen.’

When you were just at the hotel, was there something you did this time around and maybe last season you wouldn’t have?

I went and got in the ocean with the guys being around doing different stuff. A couple years ago, man, I really distanced myself. And I had to. I needed to. When that incident happened [with Poole], I just really needed to. So, I really distanced myself. And in doing that, you miss a lot. But once you do that it’s hard to come back.

It just become a mindset and it becomes everybody else’s mindset, right? ‘Oh, we’re going to see him here but probably not there.’ And I missed that s—, man. That’s always what kept me going.

Did you get jaded with championships, the TNT television job, commercials, money, etc.?

Yes. And family. A lot changed. And when those things are changing, you go through something like that, you end up distancing yourself further. I was already distancing myself naturally. I got four kids. I’m trying to build a business and all the things naturally.

Then [Poole] happened and I’m like, ‘I really just gotta do my own thing, stay to the side, stay out the way.’ I’m not sure that was the right thing either. But during when it was going on, that’s what feels right. Hindsight is 20/20. We always look at something like, ‘If I would’ve knew this then, I would’ve did X.’ So, at that time that’s what felt right to me. I can’t sit here and tell you that it was right. But what I can tell you is that ain’t the right thing for me personally. I’m not a loner by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t know how people do that.

I saw you swag surfing at the end of the game. Is that part of having fun, too?

Have fun with every moment. Also try to breed fun. Guess what, there’s a guy in here that’s in Year 4, Year 5, Year 6, counting like I was counting. You owe it to them to have fun. For them to feel like, ‘Damn, it’s a good environment. It made me forget about the days I was counting. It made me forget about the months and years I was counting.’ You owe that to them because the reality is, as much as my mind thought about that, [former Warriors teammates] Jarrett Jack and David Lee didn’t have me in a position where I needed to think about that. That’s just how my mind was.

But when I was around those guys, that was the least important thing. So, you owe it to these guys to be that way. There are guys in here fighting for their livelihoods. And don’t get me wrong, I am, too. We all are. I say every year in the NBA, you start from ground zero and you got to prove it again. I’m going into Year 13. There are guys in here trying to make a career. And I owe it to them to have a greater vibe and to make them feel good, comfortable, lessen the stress. Because, guess what? They got the everyday stress I had to get a pension. The least I can do as someone who don’t have those stresses, bring a level of comfort, bring a level of energy that’s fun because those guys are going to look at us like, ‘How is this place? How should it be?’ And I want them to know this is a great place. It’s a fun place. You come in here, you be yourself.

You signed a four-year, $100 million contract last year. Can you see yourself playing past that?

What’s crazy is I was so set on that two years ago. And this summer I confused myself even more because I’m like, ‘Ah, I’m done.’ I’m like, ‘No the [expletive] you not. You got more. You can get past that.’ I’m just enjoying everything every day. Another thought I have was like, man, you started talking about what the end looks like. But the reality is my body don’t feel like I’m nowhere near the end. So, get the thought out your mind. When it happens, it happens.

But stop planning. One percent of people end it on their terms. Stop trying to end it on your terms by ending too soon. I will know when it’s time, but until I know for sure it’s time, I’m going to enjoy every day. I feel incredible. So, until I know that it’s time, [expletive] thinking. [Expletive] that. Enjoy every second of this. That’s my goal. That’s my plan. And that’s cliché … But that’s my mindset.

You lost Klay. You didn’t sign a major free agent, but solid complementary pieces were added. So, why do you feel good about this Warriors team?

It’s different. It’s something fresh. And most importantly, we’re underdogs. Nobody thinks we can do it again. It’s the most fun time to tell people ‘[expletive] you.’ So, why not? … It looked pretty similar to this in 2022 to the naked eye.

Are you and Steph closer now that Klay is gone? More appreciative of your time together?

Listen, our relationship has always been our relationship. The one thing I think that’s always been interesting about us three is we never made anybody feel like, ‘Yo, that’s us three and then there’s y’all.’ We’ve never operated that way. And so, it’s not like, ‘Oh, man, those three was three peas in the pod and now one of them is gone. Look at them.’ No. We’ve always kept ourselves a part of the group.

So, yes, he’s gone. He’s not here. It looks different when you walk out there and you look over, you don’t see him. It looks different when you walk in the locker room, you look up, you don’t see his name. All of those things look different. We’ve always embraced all our teammates.

When Deki died and you made a point to be more present, did you move on from the Jordan Poole incident as well?

No, that wasn’t necessarily me moving on from it. I moved on long before I had to. You can’t sit and stand in the mud and dwell on the past. I apologized for my wrongdoings. I tried to do everything I can to make it right. I can’t sit there and dwell on it. What’s done is done, you know what I’m saying? So, I moved on a long time ago, but you just continue to grow. You continue to realize what matters. So oftentimes we sit and we complain. And for me, I always try to remind myself, ‘Everybody has s—. What makes your s— so special?’ It’s just your s—. It also doesn’t make someone else s— less. That’s their s—.

So, I looked on that situation. It happened. I moved on long ago and tried to do what I can to move forward, help people move forward. The Deki situation wasn’t that for me, it was just what it was. Go to work with somebody every day. And then all of a sudden you’re not.

I was walking out of the hotel to the dinner after I got a massage. My security was ‘Yo, we need to wait. [Warriors security manager] Johnny [Murray] said, ‘Wait, something happened with Deki and the ambulance was there. It’s not good.’ I was literally about to walk out the door hotel and [security said] we need to wait.

Warriors patriarch Al Attles died Aug. 20 after an NBA record 64 years of being with the franchise as a player, coach, general manager and ambassador. Not sure if you got much time with him, but what were your thoughts on his death?

Early in my 13 years, he was around a lot more. Obviously, he started to age, started to have some health challenges, so he wasn’t around as much later. But early on in my career, he used to come speak to the team. And I remember one speech he had in particular. He kept telling us, ‘I’m from New Jersey, but I’m no hooligan.’ And he kept saying that and that saying just stuck with me.

I’m from Saginaw [Michigan], but I ain’t no hooligan. And so just to spend the time around him that I was able to, like I said, it was a lot more early on than there was later. But to be in this organization, to have his support, bringing those special moments to an organization, for him to be able to live through those moments is special. You get a guy who’s been in an organization for 64 years. No. 1, there’s wow factor. No. 2, there’s an appreciation to know I’m a part of an organization that honors, respect and appreciates someone like that. I can only strive and hope to be there. So, he was a special man. When he came around, there was always a light.

I’ve never met any one person around here that had any disdain for Al Attles. To be that type of figure, to have that type of presence, when you come around, people just move the mountain, you don’t have to say a word. Everybody’s just going to move the mountain and not one person has something to say. Some people get mad at you just because someone moved it for you. You didn’t even ask for that. Never heard anyone have any disdain about that man. And that’s special.