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NBA FINALS: WARRIORS VS. RAPTORS

June 4, 2019

Draymond Green

Oakland, California - Practice Day

Q. Steve just announced that Looney is done for the series. How important now does that make Boogie in the grand scheme of things, the minutes he gives you and the production he gives you?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I think we seen in Game 2 his minutes and production was going to be important for us to win this series, if that's what we're going to do. So with Loon going down, other guys have to step up. And so obviously Cous will continue to play more and more, but not that he's not capable.

Q. Steph talked postgame about how Strength in Numbers is not just a marketing ploy, it's in your guys' DNA. Can you speak to that, that point about losing Looney?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Yeah, we have been faced with a bunch of different injuries now, Loon being the latest, and guys have continued to step up. That's the reason that we are in this position we're in right now where we're coming home with the series tied 1-1, with a chance to go up 3-1 with these two games here at home.

So it's becoming more and more important as this run has gone on and guys have continued to go down, but we got to continue to channel that same energy that we have been having.

Q. Talking about these next two games at home, it is the last few games here at Oracle. Obviously winning a championship is the most important thing, but can you speak to how special this building has been and wanting to end it in sort of championship fashion?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I think this building has been very special. Not often do you get the opportunity to kind of close out an era in a building within a run that we're currently in right now.

So I think it's a very special time. This building has been great to us. It's been great to myself and all the guys that I've played with, and we definitely want to close it out the right way and hang another banner on our way out.

Q. To get to five straight Finals, just the physical grind that's on this team, it seems like guys are going down, at times you're running on fumes, just how much of a mental and physical grind is this?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Oh, I think as much as it is physically, because it's a lot, and even as much as it is, as much of a grind as it is mentally, which is a lot, it's probably even more of a grind emotionally, with the emotions that you put into trying to win a championship and into the playoffs where you kind of just, the only thing you really do is focus on how do I get better for the game, how do I have my body ready to go to be in the best possible shape and condition entering the game that you possibly can.

So whereas in the regular season you got this going on, you got so many other things going on that kind of it almost is a stress reliever, you don't have those things going on in the playoffs. So as much as it is mentally and physically, I think it's even a bigger burden emotionally.

Q. So how spent are you at the end?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Done. Like completely drained and wiped out. But then you get to enjoy a couple months off and get right back at it.

Q. The other night you said after Andre Iguodala made that shot that he's sort of like Big Shot Bob, and later on that night on Twitter there was debate about whether Iggy is a Hall of Famer or not. What are your thoughts on that?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Do I think he's a Hall of Famer or not? Absolutely. If the things that people say matters, matters, then how couldn't he be a Hall of Famer? But we got another championship to win and then everybody will probably just stop with the debate and just go ahead and say it. So I think we should just do that to help y'all out with y'all's debates. It would be good.

Q. With the way that you guys have rallied around DeMarcus this year trying to get to the playoffs and to get another championship, what was it like, what was the reaction like as teammates to see him play the way that he did in Game 2?
DRAYMOND GREEN: As a teammate, you're playing the game. You're not really out there like, Oh, man, DeMarcus is playing good, it's great. You just kind of get lost in the game. Obviously after the game ends you're happy for him and that he's able to experience that moment, but also understanding that those moments get greater and greater as the series goes on, as -- if you can win the series and obviously hang another banner, those moments get greater and greater.

So you feel good about him, but understanding the big picture, we got three more wins to get.

Q. When you're on a run like this, and a lot of guys after their careers look back at the good times and say, I wish I would have celebrated more instead of just focusing on the next game, is it tough?
DRAYMOND GREEN: You know, I guess you want to find that balance of cherishing the run that we're on, but the reality is those guys who look back on their career heard the same thing. Like you got to cherish it. It's impossible. Like you can't celebrate everything that goes on and expect to get the same production that you're giving without celebrating and staying locked in and focused on the task at hand.

So I think we'll continue to hear that clichÃ© for the rest of my life and your life and the rest of everybody else's life, oh, you got to enjoy it while it's going on. I think that's impossible, because you got to lock in on the next day and get ready for the one following that one in order to keep that run going.

So I don't really worry too much about enjoying it. I think if you do all the right things and you leave a great enough legacy, you'll enjoy that legacy for the rest of your life. And who cares if you enjoy it for the five years that it's going on, it will continue to give to you for the rest of your life if you build the right legacy.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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