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GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 28, 2015

Draymond Green

Oakland, California

Q. Draymond, how was your summer?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Great. Yeah, no, it was a great summer. Kind of different than what I've grown used to, but amazing.

Q. Talking with Luke the other day, and he was saying that even as you guys are winning 67 games last year that the coaches would watch the clips and say, man, how much better this team could be next year in year 2 in this system. What do you think you guys learned after going through some bumps early last season, you got better as the season went on. How much better can you be getting through your different levels of the offense?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Oh, man, I definitely think we can get better, whether it's -- I think a lot of times last year we kind of would depend on stuff to bail us out on depend on Klay to bail us out, and I think that's where year 2 you get more comfortable with the offense, you learn to get to the third, fourth and fifth option and play, I think that's going to help this team continue to grow.

Whether it's executing on the offensive end or continuing to get better on the defensive end, as well, I definitely think there's some stuff we can take in those areas to continue to help us grow as a team.

Q. You started to see opponents' best shots last year as that target grew on your back. Do you expect it to be much different this season?
DRAYMOND GREEN: It's probably going to get worse, where everybody is going to be gunning for us. There's no nights off. Everybody wants to beat you.

We've got to make sure that we come ready to play from day one. I think the challenge for this team is to approach game 1 of 82 like it's game 1 of 82, and that's going to be the focus for us going in, and we've got to make sure that we're ready to do that.

Q. As a leader on this team, do you see one of your chief responsibilities this year to keep the team hungry, be vocal about that, make sure they don't rest on what you guys did last year?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I think at any time when you win a championship, you just have to make sure that everybody stays hungry. I don't think that'll ever be a problem on this team, especially with this group of guys being as young as we are. We're still hungry because we have a lot more -- we know we have a lot more that we can accomplish and a lot more that we want to accomplish. I don't see it being a problem for this team to stay hungry. It's not something that you have to be on somebody every day about going hard. I'm 25; Harrison is 23; Steph is 27; Klay is 27; I think Bogues may have just turned 30; Dre, 30, 31; Shaun, 29. We've still got a lot left in the tank, and we want to make sure that we capitalize on that.

Q. Draymond, the team had great success last year, both in the regular season and especially in The Finals with you playing center. Did the knowledge of this coming more this season change the way you prepared this summer?
DRAYMOND GREEN: No, I still prepared this summer, but I prepare every summer, continue to try to get better, try to add something to your game. I can't go into the season preparing to play more center. It's not my position, and we've got a lot of guys that can play that position. I prepared the same way that I would have gone into any season, trying to get better.

Q. What kind of shape are you in this year compared to previous years as far as trying to put on some more weight, trying to get slimmer over the off-season? What was the focus?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Just to continue to better my body. I think I'm in good shape coming into camp, about as good a shape I wanted to be in. I didn't want to be in great shape coming back to camp because that simply means I didn't give my body enough time to rest after such a long season. I'm in pretty good shape, which is where I wanted to be. You know, I'll use the next month or so to get to where you want to be to start the season, but I think if I came into this season in the best shape that I could possibly be in, probably wouldn't make it to the end of next June, and so that's the approach that I kind of took coming into this season is be in good shape, ready for training camp and ready to go, but also know that it's probably not the time to be in tip-top shape and expect your body to hold up all the way if you plan on trying to win another championship, expect your body to hold up all the way through the end of June next year.

Q. Draymond, you've always taken a ton of pride in pushing the guys around you, and Steph in particular during his MVP speech, he pointed you out for the role that you played with him. I wanted to ask you about this year with Steph coming off the MVP campaign, do you see another level for him? Do you see areas where he can build off what he's already done?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Definitely see another level for him. I still think he's just scratching the surface on how good he can be and how good he's going to be. And it's exciting, exciting to watch. I think a lot of guys on our team are in that same position, that same boat to where you've seen how good -- some of the things that you can possibly do, and you see how good you can be, but not there yet. Like I said, it's just exciting because I think we've still got a lot left to give, and Steph being one of those people, I still think he can reach another level, and I think he will reach another level.

Q. Just curious, individually the difference for you entering last season coming into a contract year versus going into this season, now having the new deal in your back pocket?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I mean, obviously coming into a contract year kind of worried about that, and we all say -- as I said last year, I'm not worried about it and I'm going to do this, but the nature of it, you're going to think about it. Obviously with that being behind me, you know, it's good. You can just kind of go into the season free, ready to play, ready to get better, and really try to focus on what we need to focus on, and that's trying to win a championship.

Q. You gave away a chunk of your money to your alma mater. What do you do for yourself and what did you do for your mom?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I haven't done much of anything yet for myself or for anyone else. But you know, giving that donation was very important to me, to Michigan State, who has done so much for me as a person, more so than even a player. Obviously my whole game changed when I got there, and for the better, which was great for me. My body changed. But I became a man there, and that's what has helped me in life more than anything.

To give back to a place that helped me as much as Michigan State did was a no-brainer for me, and I think in every -- with that school, the people at that school I have a great relationship with, and I think in every great relationship, there's a give-take type of relationship, and a great relationship, if I give to you, you take it, but at the same time I know you'll give to me and I can take back, as opposed to always give, give, take, take. At the end, at some point, if it's all give, give, you get tired of giving, and if it's all take, take, they get tired of giving. But I think in any relationship, if it's give-take, that's the best kind of relationship. Michigan State gave so much to me over the course of the years that I felt it was only right for me to give back to them.

Q. Draymond, you mentioned wanting to give your body some rest just with the short off-season obviously. What do you make of Coach Kerr's plan not to have two-a-days, and does that fit right into what you're talking about, wanting to last until June?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Absolutely. I mean, you can't come into training camp -- and coach understands this. He won a championship five times as a player. You can't come into training camp prepared like you ended on April 15th and you ended June 18th or 19th or whatever it was. You can do it. It's probably not a good idea. I think that was a great decision by Coach. I know guys that do whatever it takes to be in the shape that we need to be in to be ready to go for the season, but I think that was a good decision.

Q. What was the most fun thing you did this summer that you can tell us about?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I can tell y'all about everything. I didn't do nothing crazy. Going to Andre's wedding was the most fun I've had in a long time, so that was pretty amazing. I mean, it was really the first time all of us had been back together since the championship, and it was in Cabo. I had never been to Cabo. We just had a ball.

Q. You said you hadn't bought anyone anything, but it popped in my head, did Steph come through on the gift that you asked for when he got MVP?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Steph did his press conference yet?

Q. Yeah, he did.
DRAYMOND GREEN: You didn't ask him?

Q. I forgot. It just popped in my head when you mentioned not buying anything.
DRAYMOND GREEN: I'm not into throwing anyone under the bus. Maybe y'all can ask Steph that.

Q. I can read between the lines. And the other thing was there anyone in particular that you got really excited about meeting in the off-season?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Oh, I mean, I met a ton of people this off-season. You know, I've kind of focused in more on the business side of things, as well, and trying to focus on some things that I have a passion about and that I want to get done, and so I met a lot of people in that world that I enjoyed meeting. There wasn't really one person in particular, but I met a lot of good people this summer.

Q. You were talking about there's a lot of players that can get to another level when you were speaking about Steph Curry, and scratching the surface in his case, but what other guys -- and specifically when you look at somebody like Klay, how does he fit into that mold in your opinion?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I mean, he's one of those guys. Like I said before, Klay, he's 25, and I think he can continue to get better, as well, and I think he's going to continue to get better.

You know, there's a bunch of us that, like I said earlier, can continue to get better, and you know, it's exciting to know that. It's fun to be a part of, and we've just got to continue to put in the work and make sure we do the work to get better and not get complacent.

Q. I asked Klay the same question; you spoke briefly about being a man, but at 25 years old, what did you learn about yourself as a man and as a player this off-season?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I learned a lot. You know, it was kind of foreign territory for -- it was foreign territory for all of us, coming off a championship. I really learned how to manage my time more. You kind of move into a space where your time is not as much of your time as it was before, and you learn how to manage all that, do the things that you want to get done, but also make sure you take care of things that you know need to be done and that has to be done, as well, and still enjoy what you're doing. I think that was big for me is just learning how to manage all the things that I have going on, that a lot of us had going on, and making sure that, number one, you're still getting your workouts in, you're still continuing to get better at your game, you still find the time for your family, you still find time to spend time with your friends, the people that's important to you, while taking care of your business, as well. I think that was one of the biggest things for me this summer.

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