Draymond Green once again joined the Inside the NBA crew for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and the Nuggets on Friday night, and as usual, he didn’t disappoint. Green is threatening to become a regular fixture on the mega-popular NBA show with his unfiltered approach, which matches the show’s off-the-cuff vibe.
Green’s previous appearance ended up resulting in a hefty fine for his comments about Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns, which the league said amounted to tampering as Green publicly called for Booker to leave the organization. And on Friday, the crew didn’t waste any time before the fireworks started up once again.
Charles Barkley was the one to tee things off this time around, pointedly asking Green whether his 2015 championship with the Warriors, i.e. the one before Kevin Durant arrived, means more to him than the titles they won together in 2017 and 2018. Here’s Green’s response.
Charles Barkley puts Draymond Green on the spot and asks him if the championship the Warriors won in 2015 was “better” than the two they won with Kevin Durant.
Draymond’s answer
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— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) September 19, 2020
In the end, Green readily admits that the Warriors’ first title was indeed the most gratifying, but it was still a mostly diplomatic response, as he explained that the first title is always the most difficult and therefore the most meaningful.
Of course, the subtext of the question has more to do with Green and Durant’s fraying relationship over the course of their run together. The two had some high-profile dust-ups that many believe led to their breakup last summer. Still, Green stopped short of diminishing the championships they won together and managed to preserve the integrity of those titles and avoid any further bad blood.