During the height of their run, the Golden State Warriors were being called the greatest team ever assembled. For a while, it seems like a fitting title.
Over five years, and five straight trips to the Finals, they were nearly unstoppable, capturing 3 Championships and having plenty of fun along the way.
Sadly, the dynasty crashing down in 2019, after Kevin Durant left the team and Klay Thompson suffered his first of two season-ending injuries. Eventually, nobody but Draymond was consistently available for the Warriors, and it was a reality that weighed heavily on the 3x Champion.
During a chat with The Ringer, the star forward revealed what the 2019-20 campaign was like for him after having achieved so much success years earlier.
“You’re walking in these arenas and four years you’ve been like, ‘We’re going to go win,’ and now you’re walking in and there’s actually no chance we win this game,” Green says. “Not only do you know you’re going to get your ass kicked, but the other team knows they’re going to kick your ass and they’re not even taking you seriously.”
Going from the best to the worst in such a short period of time could not have been easy for Draymond, especially given his competitive nature.
Still, he never forgot just how few could touch him in terms of career accomplishments.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it killed my pride because at the end of the day I knew that there was only one person in this league that can talk anything to me about anything basketball,” Green says. “And that’s LeBron. That was the only guy who could really talk shit about accomplishments or the game of basketball in this league.”
This season could give Draymond a lot more to look forward to. Klay is set to return, Steph hasn’t lost a step, and the team has plenty of talented role-players ready to contribute.
It will not be an easy feat to take down their Western Conference opponents but, for the first time in a little while, you can’t count the Warriors out.
