Golden State Warriors star power forward Draymond Green had an exciting thought process on an NBA city that he didn’t prefer to stay in for long during the earlier years of his professional career.
In a recent episode of the ‘Why is Draymond Green Talking About Football’ podcast, Green discussed various NFL and NBA topics with co-host Jordan Schultz and Tampa Bay Buccaneers active running back Rachaad White.
Shultz asked White and Green to name a city they disliked traveling to during the NFL and NBA seasons. While White gave an example of when the Buccaneers from Florida on the East Coast had to travel all the way to Seattle to take on the Seahawks on the West Coast, Green said it was Oklahoma City during Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook’s times, the city he disliked traveling to the most.
What Did Draymond Green Say About OKC From KD-Russ Days?
In response to Shultz’s question, Green said, “Listen, fans hate me enough. Okay. I don’t want to [ __ ] on any one city, but there are some NBA cities that no one really wants to spend time in. One, I will say, has gotten better. Originally, you didn’t want to stay in OKC, but now it’s gotten better.”
He added, “Like they have a better hotel that’s right across the street from the arena. They have more restaurants there now. But earlier in my career, like when you’re playing against KD and Russ, those guys, OKC wasn’t it. It was terrible.”
Green concluded, “It was very hard to go there. And then you imagine having a playoff series there where you can end up in that city for four or five nights at a time. OKC was rough, but it’s gotten a lot better now.”
Since Green made his NBA debut with the Warriors in 2012, he has traveled to Oklahoma City multiple times during the regular season to play the Thunder. Regarding the postseason, Green and the Warriors have played the Thunder only once since 2012.
This was an engaging Western Conference Finals in the 2015-16 NBA season, in which the Warriors defeated the Thunder in seven challenging games and advanced to the NBA Finals, where they faced off against James and the Cavaliers.
While the four-time NBA All-Star has been an integral part of the Warriors’ roster, they have struggled to go deep in the postseason since winning their last championship in 2022.
The starting five have aged, and the fans have been showing some confused reaction toward the front office staff for not addressing the issue and instead sticking to the same plan and almost similar roster (except for Jimmy Butler) with which they have been playing in recent years.
For now, the Warriors have only one preseason game left, after which they will kick-start their journey in the new season by taking on the Lakers in Crypto.com Arena on October 21.
