Fresh off their opening night victory, and ring celebration, the Golden State Warriors appear set to defend their title, and many are giving them a real shot to win a second straight championship.
But no matter how things end for the Warriors this year, they have already done enough to cement their place in history.
Appearing on TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ on Tuesday, Warriors superstar Klay Thompson reflected on his team and spoke about several of his most prominent teammates.
Klay Thomson Drops Truth Bomb ON The Value Of Jordan Poole And Draymond Green To The Warriors
Specifically, he addressed the relationship between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole, revealing that both hold extreme importance to the franchise.
“Dray had to get our trust back and he was very willing to do so. Without Draymond we’re not the Warriors and without JP we’re not the Warriors. JP is our future, Dray is a legend — he’s going to have a statue outside one day. Brothers fight and we spend more time with each other than with our families. We butt heads sometimes and we’ll move past it and we’re just set on repeating. You know how hard the encore is, and I know we can do it.”
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We all know how much Draymond means to the Warriors. While the guy isn’t quite on the level of Steph Curry or Klay Thompson, what he brings to the court is no less valuable, and it’s why he is often considered the “glue” to their entire operation. Even after punching his own teammate in the face, the Warriors forgave him and moved on — which really speaks volumes to how much rapport he has built with the franchise. And as a 4x champion, it’s not crazy to think he might get his own statue one day.
Regarding Poole, his emergence has been fascinating to watch. Since his breakout season two years ago, he has quickly climbed the ranks to become one of the Warriors most valued contributors. And after signing that $140 million extension earlier this month, he is more locked in now than ever.
“It is a really good feeling because you’re already focused on basketball, you’re laser-focused and you’re locked in but now you’re even more locked in,” said Poole. “There’s another level you can take it to, knowing that your family is taken care of, friends are taken care of, anything that you needed to do is essentially done other than play basketball.”
Of course, the Warriors are going to need both of those guys at their best if they want to maximize their chances of a repeat. As good as they looked on Tuesday, the Warriors are going to face some steep competition his year.
It’s a good thing that the Warriors are so good at handling conflict, or the Draymond/Poole altercation may have held them back.
