Draymond Green’s future in Golden State has never been murkier following an incident earlier this month when the Warriors veteran torpedoed his reputation with one mighty fist, slugging teammate Jordan Poole in a controversy coach Steve Kerr later called, “the biggest crisis we’ve ever had.” Though the Warriors decided against suspending him (one would guess in large part due to Tuesday night’s festivities, which included a pregame ring ceremony and the unveiling of their seventh championship banner), Golden State, by immediately signing Poole and Andrew Wiggins to huge extensions, seemed to be sending Draymond a message, warning him to shape up or risk finishing his career with another team.
Judging by his overly chummy interactions with LeBron James Tuesday night, at one point leaving the bench to chat up his friend and business partner (with stone-faced teammates looking on in grim disapproval), Green seems to welcome that possibility, openly flirting with a rival team’s star player in full view of TNT’s all-seeing cameras. Both clients of Los Angeles-based Klutch Sports Group, LeBron and Draymond have long maintained a close friendship, with James attending the latter’s wedding this summer, a star-studded affair that included, among other amenities, a full-service weed bar with hand-rolled joints.
Without boots on the ground, it’s hard to know for sure what was said between the two, leaving us to wonder whether James and Draymond’s exchange was harmless banter between friends or something of greater substance, perhaps networking with Green planting the seeds for his inevitable defection to Los Angeles. Though it’s been suggested Green, in wake of his latest indiscretion, could be a trade candidate, that would undermine the Warriors’ win-now edict, boasting the highest payroll in NBA history in pursuit of what would be their fifth title in nine years. Of course, if Green continues to be a locker-room nuisance, the baggage he brings finally outweighing his leadership qualities and trademark toughness, it’s easy to see him landing on his feet in Los Angeles with LeBron pulling the strings.
Of course, Russell Westbrook had hoped for a similar renaissance in Los Angeles, only for his career to go up in flames, held hostage (not that being paid $47 million is any great suffering) by a franchise that has made painfully obvious it wants nothing to do with him. The Lakers experimented with Westbrook coming off the bench in their preseason finale last Friday, which he says contributed to his recent hamstring injury.
During Tuesday night’s broadcast, Charles Barkley (flush with cash after signing a mammoth, $100-million extension with Turner) practically begged Los Angeles to free Westbrook from his current purgatory, arguing that by unfairly scapegoating him for their failures last season, the Lakers have taken “all his joy out of life and basketball.”
Tuesday night’s final score (123-109) is not an accurate representation of how lopsided the game actually was with Golden State at one point leading by as many as 27, enabling the reigning champs to rest their starters for much of the fourth quarter.
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