JaMychal Green couldn’t say no…
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JaMychal Green earlier this month signed with the NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors, as a free agent (after agreeing a contract buyout agreement with Oklahoma Thunder, the team he was traded to from the Denver Nuggets back in June).
The 32-year-old forward, who hails from Montgomery in Alabama, has also represented the San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers in his NBA career.
Green admits that he was preparing to join another unnamed team ahead of the 2022-23 season, but a call he received while on holiday in Jamaica from Warriors coach Steve Kerr ultimately turned him toward a move to San Francisco.
“He told me that [the Warriors] were interested, that they wanted me here, wanted me to be a part of the program,” Green said at his introductory news conference. “After talking to him, I couldn’t tell him no. The organisation and what they built over here, I’d love to be a part of it.”
The player then called Draymond Green, whom he has known since the eighth grade through AAU basketball.
“He was just excited,” JaMychal Green said. “We both know what we bring to the table, and we just had a good conversation about everything and he made it easy for me to come here.”
JaMychal Green sees Draymond’s role with the Warriors as somewhat of an outline for how he wants to fit in with the team.
“Just come in and play hard,” he said. “Be a dog. Do the dirty work… help Draymond out with the dirty work. Knock down shots and play defence. I feel like if you come here and handle your business, you set yourself up for life.”
One worry for Green is the way his long-distance shooting stats dropped off last season at the Nuggets – though he attributed this to a nagging wrist injury and said, “Toward the end of the season I just stopped shooting, period.”
He added, “It’s all about rest and confidence. As long as I get my reps in this summer, I’ll be good to go. I was just fighting through some things last year… it’s going to get up.”
On what it means to become a Warriors player, Green concluded: “Coming here, you can’t settle, get satisfied or anything. You constantly working here and getting better. That’s something I need to be around.
“Be around types of players that won championships that have that leadership. They have everything here. From Andre [Iguodala] being a leader as well. Steph [Curry], Klay [Thompson], Draymond. I look forward to playing with those guys.”
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