NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 16, 2022

Draymond Green

Golden State Warriors

Game 6: Postgame

Golden State Warriors 103, Boston Celtics 90

Q. Andre, when he was in here, made an interesting point. He was talking about the chemistry of your core, you and Steph and Klay being together, and he mentioned them from the standpoint of they grew up in NBA lives, and that maybe your background, a little grittier, brought more of an edge. How do you think that chemistry and mix of your personalities has fed this whole run?

DRAYMOND GREEN: It's amazing because none of us are the same, and, you know, you usually clash with people when you're alike.

The one thing that's constant for us is winning is the most important thing. That is always the goal. That is always the main focus. It's not --

This is Olive, everyone. I know usually don't get to see her, but she is the life of all of this. It's family.

I'm sorry, I totally lost my train -- oh.

For us, it's just about getting back to these moments and winning, and we know what that feels like, and ultimately we know what that takes.

We know what that takes. And rely on each other and depend on each other. If I struggle in one area, Steph just isn't going to try to do it. We rely on each other for what we are great at. And it still has not been proven when we hold that that anybody can stop it.

Q. What does winning Finals MVP do for Steph's career? And also, you talked about how no one has knocked you guys off when you guys are healthy. What is next for you, and how far can you guys take this? You have four now.

DRAYMOND GREEN: I'm not sure. I don't like to put a number on things and say, oh, man, we can get five or we can get six. We going to get them until the wheels fall off. And that's our goal, to compete at this level every year.

When you look at a guy like Steph Curry, to have the season and the career that he's had, it is amazing. And to stamp that with a Finals MVP -- I know he said it don't matter, and it doesn't matter in the sense of like, oh, his legacy is not quite this unless he gets that. Like, that's garbage.

Still Steph Curry, still an all-time great. But to add that to your résumé as a competitor, you want that. For him, well-deserved. It's been a long time in the making. But he left no doubt, left no doubt, and he carried us, and we're here as champions.

Q. Sharing this championship with your children, how does it feel? And you were to enter the NBA now, what would you tell yourself?

DRAYMOND GREEN: It's absolutely amazing being up here sharing this with my kids, with my wife, my brother, my mom. This is what you do it for.

I've always said, one of my motivations to get back to playing at a high level is they weren't old enough to remember me playing at a high level. You look at the last two years prior to this one, and you know, you think of their ages that they have gone on the last few years, she was four, he was two. They didn't remember anything.

So a huge part of my motivation coming into this year was to show them that, you know, I can be at this level and to give them an understanding, and, you know, to ultimately close it out.

I always say, you know, during the playoffs, my family takes a backseat to everything, everyone does, everything does. It's all about what can I do to put myself in a better position to win a championship, to close out a series, to play good games.

And that requires such a high amount of focus, and, you know, I didn't see them all day today. Like they are sitting in the same hotel. I didn't see them all day. But ultimately, it's a sacrifice. You know, try to get them to understand, but the things that they don't understand, once they see the prize at the end, it will better help them understand. And teaching them how to work, and if you do work hard, there are prizes at the end, and I think for me to share these experiences with them, that's what the journey is all about.

Q. Draymond, can you just speak to how important and impressive your team's defense was throughout these Finals?

DRAYMOND GREEN: You know, we have always spoke about our defense, and, I mean, it's been a constant for us. We have won championships, and I think the lowest defense we've had winning a championship was like seven or eight.

But when you have such a sexy offense, and guys shooting the ball like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole, when you have that, it's always going to be sexier, and people are always going to appreciate that more. And like, oh, if you look at their offense. Like we beat this team because of our defense. Did they score a hundred points tonight?

That's four out of six games they didn't score a hundred points? We beat them because of our defense, and that's always been a constant. You don't win a championship without a great defense. We know that. We understand that. We pride ourselves on defense and ultimately understanding that our defense will allow our offense to flourish.

Q. Are you planning to record tonight --

DRAYMOND GREEN: Planning to record back there.

Q. One heck of an episode.

DRAYMOND GREEN: Draymond Green Show, live from the NBA Finals about to go down back there. Y'all look out. It's going to be an incredible episode. I told y'all on there before, don't let us win -- everybody got mad at me for cussing with my kids up here, but you know the rest -- championship, and they let us win a championship, and you going to hear about it.

So, tune in because it's going to be epic. Jordan Poole going to be on there. Might have Steph Curry on there. Might have Klay Thompson on there. Might have Olive on there, D.J. on there (laughter). It's going to be an incredible episode. Watch out. New media. That's what we do.

Q. Y'all going to get this Podcast?

DRAYMOND GREEN: They going to get this Podcast. Ain't nobody complain all playoffs how a couple bad games, stop doing the Podcast. It ain't stopping. Y'all going to get this Podcast. Y'all going to get it all summer and next year, too. It's here. It is what it is.

Q. What was the adjustment like for you this series, as you had the crowd doing what they were doing, saying what they were saying, and seemed like it was an adjustment for you to get through that. Can you walk me through the process?

DRAYMOND GREEN: Game 3, it just caught me off guard. Like you've heard crowds boo, and I never heard an entire crowd yell "F-you, Draymond." That was a different thing. And then so you couple that with having a so-so game, and it's like, ah, man.

Then I thought, you know, when I speak of the new media, then going into Game 4, it was made out like, oh, he's having this terrible series.

But if you know basketball, and you watch Game 1, I did not have a bad Game 1, and I had an incredible Game 2.

And Game 3 was kind of like, terrible, awful.

And Game 4 was not my best effort but not totally special.

And Game 5, Game 5, I was pretty solid. Came out with great energy.

Game 6, I dominated.

But you read these narratives, Steven A. said, "He's having the most horrific Finals of an NBA starter in history."

I'm like, "Dude, you ain't going to exaggerate that much. That's ridiculous." But you'll hear more about that on the Podcast tonight.

For me, it was just about staying the course. And I knew that I hadn't had a great game yet. I had good games, I was clamping and doing things, but I had not quite put it all together yet.

For me, I said what better time than to put it together tonight. I don't think I heard "F-you, Draymond" all night. They couldn't. So, you know, it's easy to chant "F-you" when somebody is having a bad game, but can't you do that when they're having a great game? I didn't hear much of it tonight. Maybe I was just that locked in.

But second team to win, close it out in TD Garden, right? Why not us. Who better than us?

Say Peace!

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