Inside The Warriors

Warriors Star Draymond Green Discloses Personal 'Motivation' for NBA Season

During Media Day, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green revealed what's motivating him next season
Matt Guzman|
Sep 29, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) holds onto the ball during Media Day at the Chase Center.
Sep 29, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) holds onto the ball during Media Day at the Chase Center. | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

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Only three players in NBA history have played enough defense to earn 10 NBA All-Defensive nods. This season, Draymond Green plans to join them.

"It would mean the world to me," Green said during Media Day, "to go and try to make another All-Defensive Team and join that list. It's an amazing list. All first-ballot Hall of Famers."

On the "list" currently are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, and Kobe Bryant. As of last season, Green has nine selections — five on the first-team — and one Defensive Player of the Year Award, plus a finalist nod in May.

Green averaged nine points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.6 assists on 42 percent shooting from the field in 68 games for the Warriors last season, helping them to a second-round playoff appearance that fell short after Steph Curry's hamstring injury in Game 1 of the series.

“We were playing playoff basketball for three and a half months,” Green said. “That’s just hard for anybody. I don’t care if you are 37 or 27. You’ve got to play playoff basketball that long? It’s tough. And we had to. We had no other choice."

Green Speaks on State of Warriors

As the Warriors look to compete in the Western Conference again next season, they'll rely on Curry, Green, and newly acquired superstar Jimmy Butler III. Curry and Green, especially, are well aware of those expectations, even with a few loose ends remaining in the offseason.

“Me, Draymond, Jimmy, we’ve all been around long enough to know how to separate the business of it from the basketball," Curry said. "Those are two totally different areas. Our job is to focus on the basketball part and not let it become something that gets in the way of how we approach every day.”

Golden State Warriors; Jimmy Butler, Steph Curry, Draymond Gree
Sep 29, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30), forward Draymond Green (23), and forward Jimmy Butler III (10) pose for a photo during Media Day at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Green certainly won't. He remains confident in a deal being struck between the Warriors' brass and Kuminga. And he remains driven by the thought of putting his name next to Abdul-Jabbar, Duncan, and Bryant in the NBA history books.

"To try to put myself, my name in the hat with those guys," Green said. "You're talking Kobe (Bryant), Tim (Duncan) ... and I can put my little name next to that? That would be a dream come true."

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Matt Guzman
MATT GUZMAN

Matt Guzman is a sports journalist and storyteller from Austin, Texas. He serves as a credentialed reporter and site manager for San Antonio Spurs On SI and a staff writer for multiple collegiate sites in the same network. In the world of professional sports, he is a firm believer that athletes are people, too, and intends to tell stories of players and teams’ true, behind-the-scenes character that otherwise would not be seen through strong narrative writing, hooking ledes and passionate words.

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