SAN FRANCISCO — Never one to shy away from bold statements, Draymond Green may have set a new bar on Sunday outside Chase Center.
The Warriors’ outspoken forward, a four-time All-Star, was broadcasting outside the NBA All-Star Game when he made a proclamation that will follow Golden State around the rest of this season and potentially longer.
“We are going to win the championship,” Green said on TNT as he addressed the trade that brought Jimmy Butler from Miami to Golden State.
The Warriors are currently 10th in the Western Conference with a 28-27 record. If the season ended today, they would occupy the final spot in the NBA play-in tournament.
Fellow TNT panelists Adam Lefkoe, Jalen Rose and Vince Carter were stunned and asked Green to repeat himself.
He did, with pleasure, while looking directly into the camera.
Green attributed his newfound confidence to the addition of Butler.
“We were kind of headed in the wrong direction,” Green said. “I think we were figuring it out and now we’ve figured it out this year, throughout the course of this year. And since he’s been here, we’ve walked into every game thinking and believing that we’re going to win that game. And that goes a long way in this league.”