Draymond believes LeBron’s Warriors history impacted decision – NBC Sports Bay Area & California
LeBron James in the end didn’t select to signal with the Warriors, and Draymond Green believes there was one principal purpose why.
The Golden State ahead mentioned James’ decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers on the newest episode of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” and hypothesized why the 22-time NBA All-Star might need been hesitant to hitch the Warriors.
“You look at Golden State, and I ultimately don’t think Bron was ever able to get over the history, and I understand it, I get it,” Green stated. “What all of us in the end all the time knew was like, that is the hurdle to recover from. I do not suppose it is the crew, the group, anything. I feel it is the history.
“We live in a day and age where everybody who doesn’t have anything to say has something to say. And so, he’s gonna get crushed if he comes to the Warriors, ‘Ahh man, you went to team up with Steph, you had to go to them.’ All the things people would have said, and I think ultimately that weighed in on the decision a lot.”
James famously confronted off towards Golden State in 4 consecutive NBA Finals from 2015-2018 with the Cleveland Cavaliers, dropping three of the 4 collection towards Green, celebrity Steph Curry and the Warriors.
Green believes James, a longtime Warriors rival, won’t have wished the backlash that might have adopted had he joined forces with the group — or simply Curry and Green at this level — he went to struggle towards time and time once more on the largest stage.
“Because I’ve never seen so often and so many people — and when I say ‘people,’ I’m talking about media, I’m talking about fans — I’ve never seen so many people who want to find something to tear someone’s legacy down,” Green added. “We stay in a depressing ass world the place folks simply wish to discover something to tear somebody’s legacy down, and this for positive, had he come to the Warriors would have been one thing that everybody would have tried to make use of to tear his legacy down.
“… Needless to say, I think there’s always this narrative of people trying to tear guys down, tear their legacy down, and I ultimately think that played a big role in the Warriors not landing LeBron.”
James, regardless of having a longstanding respect for the Warriors group, and being shut buddies with each Green and Curry, in the end determined it was finest for him to take his abilities elsewhere.
And Green respects that.
