Draymond: 'I’m always fine with what my role is on this team'
The challenge for the Golden State Warriors this season won't be finding ways to win games, because they're flat-out too talented to lose many.
Instead, the Warriors' biggest challenge will be for their stars to coexist and sacrifice for the greater goal of winning the title. That means accepting different roles on the squad than what they're used to.
So far, they're saying the right things.
"I’m going to always be me," Draymond Green told Michael Lee of The Vertical. "I’m always fine with what my role is on this team. And everybody may not like that role, but at the end of the day, I think, that helps win."
"I’m all about winning. That’s what I’ve always been about my entire life. And that’s what I continue to be about. You don’t really expect everybody to understand that. I know everybody won’t understand, but that’s not really my job to help them understand that."
As it happens, Green might have to make the most sacrifices out of any member of the Warriors. The Splash Brothers were already a known commodity from their title run in 2015, so 2016 was Green's time to shine. He seized the spotlight and established himself as one of the best two-way players in the league.
However, newfound levels of success (including career highs across the board) led to well-documented mishaps for Green last season. In addition to episodes of triple-double hunting (nearly causing a Warriors loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in one instance), he also had a nasty spat with head coach Steve Kerr last February over how many shots he launched.
With Kevin Durant on board, there will be less shots, fewer triple-doubles, and more scrutiny placed on Green as he returns to his role as the Warriors' tireless blue-collar worker. While Durant, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson shower in adulation for their proclivity for ill-advised threes, Green instead will be left to do the grunt work and not much else.
It's at that point when Green will need to mind his words about sacrifice the most.