Draymond Green was candid when he spoke about his locker room conversation with Jordan Poole earlier this year. And for the veteran, it was about earning his voice after enduring a tumultuous start to the season.
“So number one: We all know the situation. We all know what happened. And I felt like I had to earn my voice,” Green told The Athletic’s Shams Charnia.
“A voice isn’t given. For me, I wanted to do things to earn that back, and not just say, ‘Oh, man, I’m Draymond and everybody going to listen.’ Maybe that works, or maybe it doesn’t. But if it doesn’t, then you lose all respect, you lose everyone’s ear.”
Green’s comments come at the back of a locker-room discussion between Poole and the seasoned forward after their 129-117 win over the Toronto Raptors. Charania reported that league sources had told him that this was the first time Green pulled up Poole after their offseason punch-up last year.
“For me, the first three, three and a half months of the season isn’t worth that,” the 32-year-old explained. “It isn’t worth the other side of it. I needed to earn respect and I needed to earn a voice. And not just because you’re Draymond, or Dray’, you’ve done this, you’ve done that in this organization and everyone’s just supposed to listen.’ s*** don’t just work like that.”
Green has been in the headlines frequently this season, starting off with his Poole incident. This was followed by his skirmishes with fans, his trash-talking furor with Memphis Grizzlies’ guard Dillon Brooks, and most recently, his suspension after stomping Domantas Sabonis during the playoff clash against the Sacramento Kings.
Draymond Green’s Future With The Warriors Depends On The Team Winning Another Championship
He may have found his voice in the locker room, but both Green and the Warriors will have an honest conversation about his future with the team during the offseason.
Per Chris Broussard, who shed light on that front, “Unless they [the Warriors] get to the Finals or win the Finals, he [Draymond Green] is gone.”
He further added: “And you can make a strong argument that even if they won the championship if he opted out, they can decide to move on. We’ve seen that happen before. Draymond has to really look at whether or not he should opt out, because remember he has control of it. He doesn’t have to opt out.”
On the other side, NBA analyst Nick Wright believed Green has played his last season as a Warrior, and his time with Golden State would be up in the next 10 to 12 days.
There’s no denying that Green has been a vital cog in the Warriors’ championship runs, and should he indeed decide to leave the side, there will be no shortage of suitors. It remains to be seen whether he will end his career with the Warriors or find a new home this summer.
Source: https:/fadeawayworld.net