The Warriors' core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green long has been recognized as special by the rest of the NBA world, one decade, four championships and countless accolades later.
But despite all the trio has accomplished since Green was drafted by Golden State in 2012, it took the Warriors forward some time to recognize just how unique their bond is.
Green recently told Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George the moment that realization hit, and it came courtesy of former Warriors general manager/president of basketball operations Bob Myers during one of the Big Three's many plane rides together.
"As of late, I’d say over the last couple years, you really realized, like, ‘Yo, we really have a special thing.' We’re not fighting over attention, we’re not fighting over ‘you make more money than me’ or ‘I make more money than you.’ We’re not fighting over none of that," Green told George on a recent "Podcast P with Paul George" episode. "We really enjoy being together, and Bob really helped me realize. Bob, every time he would come walking by me, Steph and Klay -- we sit at the same table -- he would just walk by and laugh, like, 'It’s so funny to me 10 years later you guys still sit together on the plane.'
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"And when he first said it, I was just like, ‘Huh? Where else we supposed to sit?’ But then I really started to think about and process what he was saying, and I’m like, ‘Ah. I get what he’s saying now.’ Not only are we still together 10 years later, but we actually enjoy spending time with each other 10 years later. We enjoy each other so much that on every flight, we sit together and talk and kick it. That’s when I started to notice, because basketball is cool, right? We won, that’s great. I don’t take that for granted.
"But what makes it special is these are my brothers, you understand? These are guys who [you] go to war with. These are guys that when we’re done playing, I’ll still see, I’ll still keep in contact with."
Green, Curry and Thompson won their fourth championship together during the 2022 NBA Finals. Their title defense during the 2022-23 NBA season didn't go as planned, but Green will be back with Golden State to try again this coming season following his agreement to a new four-year, $100 million Warriors contract in free agency, a source confirmed to NBC Sports Bay Area's Monte Poole last Friday.
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It was Green's first time as a free agent after declining his 2023-24 player option, and he kept Curry and Thompson in the loop along the way. Because as he mentioned, their bond goes deeper than basketball. All it took was someone like Myers, who has seen plenty of NBA relationships firsthand over the years as both an agent and executive, to point it out.
"I’m indebted to those guys forever. They’re my brothers," Green continued. "You can never mention me and not mention them. You can’t mention them and not mention me. We’re tied together forever, and I think that’s what makes it special.
"Winning championships is great, but to be connected in such a positive light with two guys for the rest of my life, I couldn’t have chosen two better people to have my name attached to for the rest of my life."
