Like Klay Thompson, Draymond Green considered leaving the Warriors over the summer, but an unlikely ally gave him some advice which changed his mind.
Green was going to potentially sign with Memphis during the offseason, who reportedly offered more money than Golden State.
But his West coast and Pacific Division rival and close friend off the court, LeBron, helped Dray see things more clearly.
“The number one piece of advice that he gave me, and there’s millions of them,” Green said, via The Warner House. “… but the one that stands out to me the most, more than anything, was when I came to an inflection point of do I leave the Warriors or do I [sign with the Grizzlies]?
“And when I was making that decision, we were actually sitting together. We were in Paris at Fashion Week and I’m having these conversations on the phone. He’s sitting at the table, I gotta answer the phone for Rich [Paul], talking to Mike Dunleavy, talking to Joe Lacob and he’s right there taking it all in.”
Green continued to explain the honest advice the Lakers great gave him.
“And so I asked him I’m like ‘Bron, what would you do?’ Because on the table, I have from Memphis [a three-year, $105 million contract],” Green shared. “I only signed [a four-year, $100 million deal] with the Warriors. So there’s a big money difference, no state taxes in Tennessee, big money difference.
“And I’m talking to Bron about it and he’s kind of saying it’s hard to pass up the money, but he keeps going back to everything Golden State means to me, everything that I’ve done there. And ultimately, his advice was more so like ‘You’ve just done something so special there, you have a chance to continue there and keep doing it? Why not. You can go to Memphis and do great things and you can possibly be the missing piece to them doing something special, but is it as special as y’all have done? Would that be as special as y’all have done?’
“And that’s just something that stood out most to me because that’s also someone that, in what’s special that we’ve done, a lot of it he was on the wrong side of,” Green explained. “And to give that perspective in those moments, regardless of what side you were on during it, that meant a lot to me. As someone who had a thing in the palm of his hand, left it and then went back to get it, that’s a different insight. Of anything, that’s always the thing that stands out most to me because that was such an inflection point in my life.”
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