Draymond Green has never hidden his admiration for LeBron James. What has changed over the years is not the respect itself, but the relationship behind it. Once defined by hostility, trash talk, and physical confrontations in the NBA Finals, the Green James dynamic has evolved into one of the league’s most genuine off-court friendships.
Now, Green is openly admitting something that once felt unthinkable. He has always wanted to play alongside LeBron.
In an interview highlighted by Melissa Rohlin of the New York Post:
“I’ve always wanted to [play with him]. Saying I wanted to go to his team, that’s not the case. I’m very comfortable in my situation with 30 [Curry] and what we’ve built and what we have.”
“But I think him and Steph shared the want to take the court together, and they got the opportunity to do that in the Olympics in Paris. I’ve always wanted the opportunity. Just to experience it, to see how he thinks, to see, all right, what I could do to help him and his thinking. Or what can I learn and pick up about what he’s thinking.”
Green has long been comfortable with the Golden State Warriors. Four championships, a dynasty, and a culture built around Stephen Curry have defined his career. He made it clear that he does not see a realistic path to ever sharing a uniform with LeBron. This is simply a veteran acknowledging one of the few experiences his career never gave him.
The irony is that Green and LeBron once symbolized the most intense rivalry of the modern era. From 2015 through 2018, the Cavaliers and Warriors collided in four straight NBA Finals, with Green and LeBron at the emotional center of every series.
The 2016 Finals incident where Green struck LeBron and was su,spended became one of the defining flashpoints in NBA history. At the time, there was no imaginable future where these two would laugh together, vacation together, or call each other brothers.
That shift began quietly in 2017, when mutual respect replaced resentment. What followed was a slow build into a real friendship. Today, they attend concerts together, vacation together, support each other during injuries and suspensions, and speak with honesty about their shared backgrounds.
Green has even acknowledged that LeBron was his measuring stick. Guarding him in the Finals forced Green to maximize every mental and physical edge he had. Coaches around the league credit those battles for cementing Green as one of the greatest defensive minds of his generation. At the same time, LeBron has repeatedly credited Green as the heartbeat of Golden State’s dominance.
The only thing missing is time together on the court.
There is one theoretical opening, even if Green himself downplays it. LeBron is expected to become an unrestricted free agent this summer as both he and the Los Angeles Lakers prepare for a mutual separation. The Warriors previously explored the idea of acquiring LeBron at the 2024 deadline. It did not happen. Two years later, circumstances are different.
LeBron will be 41, and any move would be short-term. Yet for Golden State, even a one-year partnership between Curry, Green, and LeBron would be historic. Green has said he does not see it happening, but the NBA has a habit of creating endings nobody expects.
What is clear is how far this relationship has come. From enemies in the Finals to friends in real life, Draymond Green and LeBron James are forever linked. Even if they never share a jersey, the respect between them has already become part of NBA history.
