Draymond: No extra motivation for Warriors with Durant out

It's times like these that the Golden State Warriors can be thankful for having perhaps the fattest margin for error of any team in NBA history.

Having a player as good as Kevin Durant shelved indefinitely in the final six weeks of the season would be a catastrophe for most teams. For the Warriors, it means being left with much the same squad that won an NBA-record 73 games last year.

That hasn't stopped some from suggesting a protracted Durant absence will railroad the team's title chase. But while that's typically the kind of thing the Warriors - and particularly forward Draymond Green - would use as fuel, Green says the Golden State locker room doesn't need any additional urgency or motivation.

"What is this, Game 61? If you're still looking for inspiration now, you're f---ed," Green told ESPN's Chris Haynes before Thursday's game against the Chicago Bulls.

"Did the majority ever matter?" Green said when informed by Haynes that many around the league now consider the Cleveland Cavaliers the favorites to repeat as champs.

"No. It doesn't," he said, answering his own question. "It never has. It never will. So, you know, they haven't mattered before, why are they going to matter now?"

Green should know from experience how little the majority matters. The vast majority of observers gave the Warriors the edge going into last year's Finals against Cleveland, and even the staunchest Cavs loyalist would've been hard-pressed to envision a title for LeBron James and company after the Warriors took a 3-1 series lead. Indeed, the majority did not matter in that case.

"Look, we're looking at it as one man has gone down and another man has to step up," Green said. "That's it."