It’s no secret that Draymond Green is one of LeBron James’ biggest supporters within the NBA.
Even though Draymond and LeBron have faced off four times in the NBA Finals, they’ve become friends while being represented by Rich Paul and the powerful Klutch Sports agency over the past few years.
According to a report by Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Draymond wanted to fly to Los Angeles on Feb. 7 to see LeBron break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record in person. Spears reported that Draymond was stopped by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who wanted him to fly with the rest of the team to Portland for the following day’s matchup against the Trail Blazers.
“Yeah, I was definitely going,” Green told Spears. “It was a TNT game. I was doing the broadcast and Steve said, ‘I don’t think that’ll be great for our team. While we’re flying out on the road, you’re flying to LA, guys see that, guys see you on the TV calling the game. This is a big game for us against Portland.’ I said, ‘All right, respect. No problem. I’ll be there with my team.’”
This is a different tone than Draymond carried last March, when he declared he would even be willing to miss playing a Warriors game to see LeBron break the record.
“I can’t wait to see that,” Green said. “And I hope – Steve Kerr, I’m throwing this out there right now – if LeBron James is passing the all-time scoring record and we have a game, I’m going to LeBron’s game and witness history. That’s what we doing Coach Kerr.”
Draymond is a huge NBA fan and the all-time scoring record is likely a once-in a lifetime moment, but Kerr probably made the right call here. Optically, it would have been odd to see Draymond supporting one of his foes while his team was preparing for a game the next day in another part of the country.
Twitter sleuths have long speculated that Draymond could opt out of his 2023-24 player option and join LeBron with the Lakers. Even on his latest podcast, Draymond sounds enamored about the illustrious history of the Lakers franchise and the opportunity to face LeBron.
Since the 2021 play-in matchup technically isn’t a postseason game, Tuesday night’s Game 1 in the Western Conference Semifinals will mark the first time Draymond and LeBron have faced off in the playoffs since the 2018 NBA Finals, when James was still with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Obviously, Draymond won’t be going easy on his buddy this series.
“He’s my brother and I’m honored to have people like that in your corner,” Green told Spears. “I don’t take it for granted one bit. And one of the most special things is we are competitors and when we see each other on the floor, we’re still trying to take each other’s head off. And I can appreciate that.”
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